Ice Blue Blur: Open Your Heart
by Lord West Gordon
Summary: Elsa is trying to overcome her traumatic experiences. Anna is trying to avenge her family. Jason is trying to start his life from scratch after a year as a prisoner of war. They all have one thing in common: a haunted past. Alternate canonverse and Multiverse, with some supernatural elements. Proofread by Walard and Striga. (Chapter 9 - The Unholy Trinity)
1. Castaway

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 1 - Castaway**

The sun had just risen over the horizon, and the majority of the people already awake on the ship were the sailors.

There was only one exception: a man, covered with a brown leather jacket, with a hood over his head to protect himself from the biting cold that pushed the vessel towards the most northern point of the world. He was leaning over the ship's rail, which was very unusual: the majority of the passengers of a ship like the _Sea Diamond_ , who had zero experience as sailors, preferred to stay on the lower deck, where their cabins were located.

However, the last thing he wanted was to be confined: it brought back bad memories of the last twelve months. Twelve bloody months in which he had been locked up, with almost no space to move, and unable to see the sunlight, something he missed _a lot_.

The sight of the rising sun, alone, was a good reason for Jason Ryan Smith to be awake at 5a.m. on the Sea Diamond's rail.

"Good morning, Mr. Smith", greeted a voice, causing him to wince. Only after he turned around to see the voice's owner, did Jason allow himself to relax: it was the ship's captain, a tall and slightly overweight man with white hair who had already seen everything in the forty years he had sailed throughout the kingdoms of the world.

Although he was a gentle and kind man, Captain Jonathan Rose knew how to be hard and demanding with his men when it was necessary, because there was no other way to survive on the sea; commanding the Sea Diamondfor more than twenty years, he was a man loved by his crew, which earned him the distinction of not being the target of a single mutiny during all those years - a rare feat among the Royal Navy of Corona.

"Good morning, Captain Rose, I didn't know that you were already awake", replied the passenger, politely.

"Well, Mr. Smith, as the captain of this solemn vessel, it's my duty to see that everything is alright on all the decks, I don't want to be caught off-guard."

Jason forced a chuckle. "I understand, Captain."

"Anyways, I hope that there's not a problem in asking, but what are you doing here at this hour on deck, my son? I thought you would be following the example of other passengers and sleeping a little more before breakfast."

The hooded man held in a sigh - he knew that sharing his pain was good for the soul, but at that moment, the last thing he wanted was to share the images that haunted his nightmares.

Still, there was no harm in telling the truth - he just needed to be succinct.

"Nightmares," said the young man, playing with his hood. "I woke up a little more than an hour ago from a particularly bad one, and I couldn't sleep anymore, no matter how I tried."

"I understand, not everyone can sleep in peace, particularly on the high seas," said the captain, leaning on the ship's rail. "But anyways, today will be a long day. Maybe you can take a nap after lunch, Mr. Smith. Our cook decided to prepare a recipe he learned in Soleanna, a dish called... lasagna."

"I know that dish, my mother made it when I was little," said Jason, which earned him a watchful eye of Captain Rose. "I'm not from Soleanna, but my mom's from there, and even after she married my dad, she kept some traditions, like the original lasagna."

"So you should know how very heavy this food is, no?"

"Certainly!", laughed the young man, while playing with the edge of the hood. "My father could never spend all afternoon awake after eating a plate of lasagna, so it would be no surprise if all the passengers decided to take a nap later... unless there is a Soleannean on the ship."

"No, my boy," said Rose, after a brief chuckle. "Almost all the passengers are from Corona, or Arendelle, or even the..."

"MAN OVERBOARD!"

The cry of one of the sailors, coming directly from the bow of the ship, made Jonathan Rose interrupt the pleasant conversation and run in direction of his subordinate, with Jason on his heels.

"Captain, there's a man clinging to a piece of wood about a mile away from here," said the sailor the moment Rose entered his earshot range. "I can't say for sure, but he's not doing very well from what I can see."

"Is he injured, any blood?"

"No bleeding, sir, otherwise he would have attracted all the sharks within a mile, and there would be nothing left of him."

"Well done, prepare the boat and call two men to accompany the rescue, Williamson. Jenkins, go call the doctor and tell him that, unless his patient is having a heart attack right now, to drop whatever he's doing and come to the deck immediately", shouted the captain to another sailor who was approaching him - he nodded and turned back before running at full speed towards the lower decks.

Jason was shocked to feel the strong hand of Jonathan on his shoulder. With a rueful expression, the captain began to speak. "Mr. Smith, I know this may be asking too much of a passenger, but you are fluent in several languages. As we don't know the nationality of our castaway, you could stick around me as our translator?"

"Yes, Captain, there's no problem with that."

Rose sighed in relief - it was one less problem to deal with.

In a matter of minutes, the boat commanded by Williamson left the Sea Diamond toward the man, who was still adrift at sea, clinging to a piece of wood as if his life depended on it.

Jason, Captain Rose and some crew members and passengers who had left their beds observed Williamson and his colleagues approach the castaway and rescue him carefully from the piece of wood. Even from a distance, it was possible to notice that the man was weakened - as the region had been affected by storms until the previous day, it appeared that he had been there for at least twenty-four hours without food and only drinking water from the rain, if it had rained since.

"Did you call me, Captain?" A new voice asked, approaching the men who were leaning against the Sea Diamond _'_ s railing. Jason turned and saw a man in a white coat and gloves in his hands - a doctor.

"Yes, Dr. Petersen. Our sailors have found a castaway a league from here, I sent Williamson, Dittmer, and Brendel to rescue him. Mr. Smith is accompanying the rescue as a translator, since we do not know the nationality of the man. "

"Alright, I've already separated the instruments for work, if need be."

"Captain, the boat is already coming back, should I prepare the ropes?"

"Yes, Reitz, take Jenkins to help you with the winch. Dr. Petersen, Mr. Smith, come with me, every second is precious now. "

Nodding in agreement, both the doctor and Jason followed Captain Rose to the section of the ship where all the lifeboats were concentrated - except for one, which was being used at that moment.

Taking a deep breath, Jason tried to calm himself down - it would do no good to use his traditional remedy to quell his anxiety, not only because of the limited space and the ocean around him, but because it would also be difficult to explain to the captain how he could do that.

His ability, considered by some a blessing, and by others a curse. Which had caught the attention of the doctor, and resulted in the imprisonment of his family by the King's army.

He was not willing to return to the hell from where he had escaped.

"Captain, we're ready to go up, the man we rescued, he... he's very cold, I don't know if he'll survive," announced the sailor, whom Jason recognized by his voice as Williamson.

"Guys, you heard him! Get the boat up quickly, we're out of time!", shouted the captain, ordering the other sailors to pull the boat into the ship - in a matter of minutes, Williamson and his two colleagues left the boat, carrying a man wearing a tattered green leather military uniform.

The soldier's skin was very pale, Jason did not know if it was because of the lack of food, the cold or the excess of time in the seawater - a question answered by Dr. Petersen, after picking up his instruments and analyzing the man's body.

Several minutes passed, and the expectation of everyone surrounding the doctor and patient increased. The soldier, Jason noted, seemed to be breathing heavily.

"Well Doctor, what does he have?", asked Captain Rose.

"Severe hypothermia, Captain," the doctor replied, with a sigh of despondency, as he stored the instruments in a suitcase. "In addition, he apparently has several broken ribs, one of which is close to the lungs. If he stays on the ship for more than a day, we will not be able to save him. How far is the nearest port?"

"Two days," replied Rose, regretfully. "We were already at the end of the trip to the Royal City of Arendelle, and there are no more ports along the way, not even one with almost nonexistent medical conditions."

"What is his nationality, sir? Maybe he can tell you what happened?"

With Petersen's comment, Rose went and knelt beside the soldier, searching his ruined uniform for clues.

The captain's eyes widened at the sight of a small brooch affixed to the breastplate of his uniform - it was golden, with a violet stone in the center, and shaped like a crocus, the national flower of Arendelle. Which meant that the castaway was...

"By all the gods of the pantheon, this man is a Royal Guard!", exclaimed Rose loudly.

A collective murmur spread through the ship, and Jason knew the reason - the Royal Guards were Arendelle's elite force, charged, first, with the protection of the Royal Family.

But that did not explain why a Royal Guard appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean, clutching a piece of a ship.

"Mr. Smith, now it's your turn. Please find out what happened", Captain Rose said, turning to Jason, who swallowed hard before approaching the doctor, the sailor, and the shipwrecked man, all with their eyes on the traveler. It was then that the soldier spoke for the first time since he arrived on the ship.

[["Please remove the hood... I have to know who I'm talking to."]]

Nodding, Jason reached for his hood and pulled it off his head ... revealing royal blue hair that reached his neck.

[["My name is Jason Ryan Smith, and I am a traveler from Westside Island, on the way to Arendelle... Who are you, and what happened?"]]

[["I am Thomas Berget, Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Guard of Arendelle... I was aboard HMAS Vålerenga, returning from a state voyage to the Republic of Spagonia with Their Majesties, King Agdar and Queen Idunn, when our ship was hit this dawn by a storm…"]]

That was all the Royal Guard was able to say about before he had a violent cough. Holding him carefully so as not to hurt him, Jason patted him lightly on the back until Berget stopped coughing.

[["And what happened to the ship, Lieutenant Berget?"]]

[["We tried to take the Vålerenga out of the storm, but a rogue wave caused the ship to be thrown to the side. I was trying to pull down the sails with my colleagues when I was hit, and thrown into the sea, and saw another wave split the ship in half, throwing several of my mates into the ocean."]]

[["And the king and the queen?"]]

[["They... they went to the rail, and threw a bottle with a message inside, before they approached me and handed me a leather pouch, with strict instructions to deliver it to Lord Chamberlain Kai. That's when I was called in to collect the sails, and the first wave struck the ship."]]

[["So... they died?"]]

[["I'm afraid so, Mr. Smith…"]], he replied, before coughing again. Except to the horror of Jason, Rose, and Petersen, Berget began to cough _blood_.

Which meant that his lung had been pierced by the broken rib - meaning that he had only a few minutes to live.

"Go on, Mr. Smith, before it's too late!", cried the doctor urgently, causing Jason to turn back to Berget. [["Lieutenant, I…"]]

[["Mr. Smith, I'm going to die, isn't it?"]]

Jason nodded. Carefully, Berget indicated a pocket in the ripped uniform - the blue-haired traveler took his hand to the indicated spot and took out a greenish-colored leather bag with the crocus symbol. Even with the sunlight, it was possible to see a strong violet glow coming from inside the package.

[[Then I must say at once what I know, before it is too late... this bag contains the supreme jewel of Arendelle, who, according to the legend, was delivered by the gods to the first Frossen, and which is always owned by the ruling king or queen. So, I need you to go to the castle and deliver the jewel to Princess Elsa. I'm entrusting this heirloom to you, but I need you to promise me that you will go to the castle.]]

[[But... but, I...]]

[[Promise, please!], Berget asked, coughing more blood. [[I do not know what kind of jewel this is, but the king told me that the princess will need it to rule.]]

[[All right, Lieutenant Berget, I promise.]]

The Arendellian's eyes shone with gratitude. It was the last thing he did before he suffered a violent cough, coughing more blood until he stopped coughing, moving - breathing.

"Rest in peace, and find the absolution you dreamed of," muttered Captain Rose, as Jason carefully closed Berget's eyes.

A mournful silence settled among everyone on the deck of the Sea Diamond, watching Berget's body, pale and covered in blood, in the arms of the Westside Island traveler.

"Mr. Smith, sorry to interrupt you, but I... I need to prepare his body", murmured Dr. Petersen, ducking down to Jason's level, his green eyes overflowing with unshed tears.

He was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he did not even notice when two sailors, at the request of the ship's doctor, removed Berget's body. It was only when Rose nudged him on the shoulder that the traveler came out of the "trance".

"Mr. Smith, what... what did he say?"

Jason swallowed hard, before answering, as tears streamed down his scarred face.

"The king and queen of Arendelle are dead."

 **"What?!"** exclaimed the captain, his face taking on an upset look almost immediately.

"They died... victims of a storm."

Immediately, Captain Rose ordered all the sails to be unfurled, so that they would travel to the Royal City as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Jason, still overwhelmed, headed for his cabin; as soon as he got there, he threw himself on the bed, unable to believe it was not even eight o'clock in the morning - and he was already more tired than he could imagine.

He did not even want to imagine the amount of trouble on his hands: to go to Arendelle's castle and tell Princess Elsa - _wouldn't she be queen now?_ , he thought - that her parents were dead.

And he still had the jewelry to deliver, at Berget's request.

Slowly he lifted the leather pouch over his head, and wondered what the Arendellian royalty's jewel would look like. For a few seconds he had a debate in his head about whether or not to see the gem. On the one hand, it had been entrusted to him, on the other, it was owned by the royal family of Arendelle.

In the end, his curiosity won the battle, and he decided to see the jewel with his own eyes.

Opening the package, Jason noticed that the violet glow he had seen on the deck increased exponentially, illuminating the cabin completely. Flipping the leather bag upside down, a violet stone, the size of the palm of his hand and sculpted like a diamond, fell on the bed.

Jason's stomach jerked with pure terror.

That stone... was just like the one hidden in his luggage. The only difference was that the color of the gem in his possession was white, not violet.

Quickly, he hurried to his luggage and rolled up his clothes until he found the box he had managed to steal from the Doctor before escaping. It was really a stone of the same kind as had been entrusted to him.

A Chaos Emerald.

"By the gods, what else is going to happen?" Jason murmured, looking incredulously at the two emeralds on the bed.

Little did he know that much was yet to come.

* * *

Two hours later, Jason left his cabin and returned to the deck; Some sailors were wiping the blood off the floor while Rose was near the bow of the ship, holding a pigeon in his hands.

As he made his way to the captain, Jason could see a small piece of parchment, sealed and tied to the bird's leg.

"What happened, Captain?", Jason asked as Rose released the pigeon into the air toward the royal city.

"I sent a message to the Lord Chamberlain, informing him that we have news of HMAS Vålerenga, and requesting an audience with Princess Elsa, now the future Queen. I imagine there will be a carriage waiting for us at the port of the Royal City."

"We? This means that..."

"Yes, Mr. Smith, I'm sorry to abuse your goodwill, but I need you to come with me to the audience as a translator, since my Norwegian is not very good. Besides, you talked to the man, so…"

"No, Captain, that's fine. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Berget asked me to go to the castle, to deliver something to the princess."

"If it's not too much trouble, may I ask what he delivered to you?"

Jason pondered what he was supposed to say - he knew he could not escape with the answer "sorry, but I can not tell," because even Berget had not required him to keep it a secret. Also, he knew he could not talk too much about the Chaos Emeralds, as this might bring unwanted questions about his past with the Doctor.

So he decided to stick to the words of the late Lieutenant Colonel.

"According to Berget, what I have received is the supreme jewel of Arendelle, entrusted to him by the king before being swept by a wave and thrown into the sea. According to him, this jewel has been with the royal family since the beginning of time, and should stay with the king or queen in power. So he asked me to give the jewel to the princess."

"I understand. Well, I'm even afraid of what might happen at this hearing, they say the princess is not exactly sociable."

"Because?"

"Well... she's an only child, you know? She had a younger sister, who died as a child, and has not left the castle much since then, so she is not accustomed to contact with strangers. In addition, there are rumors that she has magical powers."

This caught Jason's attention - ever since he was a child, he was certain that he was the only human with some superhuman trait from birth. But if what Rose was suggesting was true, then he was not alone.

And what guaranteed that there weren't more special people?

"Well, the rumors are that she has absolute control over snow and ice, which comes in handy for a country that is covered in snow for six to ten months a year, and which has ice as one of its main export products."

"Wow... she must be a very special person."

"I think so. I just hope she can handle the sad news we're bringing."

"I hope so, Captain... I know the pain of losing parents, even if they are alive…"

"What do you mean, Mr. Smith?"

Jason took a deep breath before replying, "I'm going to Arendelle to apply for political asylum from the princess."

Seeing Captain Rose's eyes widen, the blue-haired boy quickly explained what had happened on Westside Island a year ago - he just left out his season in the doctor's lab.

"By all gods…" murmured Rose, surprised. "I thought all the refugees had gone to Soleanna and Corona."

"Yes, but I had a feeling... a strange feeling, so to speak, that my place would be in no other country but Arendelle. Now, I'll find out if I'm right or not depending on the mood of the princess."

Neither of them said anything else. Instead, they leaned against the bulwark of the bow, looking out over the icy sea of that icy autumn morning, watching the little icebergs on their way to the Arendelle.

They could only pray that the future queen would not adhere to the old custom of killing messengers of bad news.

* * *

 _Author Note: Well, thank you very much for reading the first chapter of **Ice Blue Blur: Open Your Heart**. I hope you really enjoyed this story, because it was very fun to write this piece of work._

 _Maybe you are considering who Jason Ryan Smith is... don't worry, you will have an explanation in a few chapters. And it's a very challenging piece of work - I'm a Brazilian, so, first, I write in Portuguese, and only after that do I translate it to English (with the help of doctor Google). Thanks a lot, by the way, to Walard and Striga for proofreading this work!_

 _And, before I forget, this is NOT an OC/Elsa ship - the main couple will be revealed very soon._

 _By now, I have 9 chapters already written, and 6 translated to English - currently, I'm writing chapter 10 (Royals), and... I don't have the slightest idea how many chapters this fic will have, but... I hope you favorite it, follow it, and review it - I will update this story every Monday - I hope._

 _Bye!_


	2. An Unexpected Journey

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 2 - An Unexpected Journey**

Two days later, the crew and passengers of Sea Diamond were able to see the huge fjord that framed the landscape of the Royal City of Arendelle.

It was undoubtedly a spectacle for the tired travelers, exhausted of all the sea and icebergs.

But for Jason Ryan Smith, it was the gateway to what promised to be one of the most intense days of his twenty years of life.

Thomas Berget's body was protected in a coffin in the cargo compartment - after, of course, undergoing an embalming process to prevent the body from rotting after two days.

Although it was common to have a burial at sea for rescued castaways who died, Berget's military status made that point out of the question. In addition, he was also the only person to have reported the history of the HMAS Vålerenga sinking, and his body would serve as evidence in an inquiry into the incident.

"Mr. Smith?"

Jason turned his head to see Captain Rose approaching, a piece of parchment in his hand. "How can I help you, Captain?"

"I just got a message from Lord Kai. He said a carriage will be waiting for us on the docks, and six guards will escort us to the castle."

"So... does he already know what happened?"

Rose took a deep breath for five seconds before answering. "No." Before Jason could protest, he spoke again. "I don't believe this is the kind of news that should be announced through a mail pigeon, Mr. Smith. It would be a lack of respect not only for the status of the future queen, but also for the memory of the royal couple."

"Alright, Captain, I understand."

"Is your luggage ready yet?"

"Yeah, it's there", answered the young man, pointing to a small bag at his feet. "And the supreme jewel is inside the leather pouch Berget gave me, it's over there", he added, pointing to the pouch that was tied to the pants he wore.

"Very well then, we'll anchor in twenty minutes, we'll also be the first to descend."

And in fact, twenty minutes later, the Sea Diamond was anchored at the port of Arendelle. Seeing a ramp being placed near the ship's rail by a group of men, Jason took his bag and, trying to gather his nerves in place, approached the captain, who was already putting his first foot on the ramp.

A few yards away, a carriage with Arendelle's coat of arms was waiting for them, guarded by half a dozen guards, holding shields in one hand and spears in the other; each one of them had a sword fastened to their waist, ready to be drawn at the slightest sign of danger.

They all wore the same green leather uniform Berget had worn, which indicated that they belonged to the Royal Guard; The difference was that these uniforms were in good condition.

At the foot of the carriage was a tall, fat man with a huge nose and his remaining hair scattered to the sides and behind his head; He wore an elegant green suit with a crocus brooch pinned to his lapel over a beige shirt. He had a piece of parchment wrapped in his hands, and seemed to be waiting for someone.

As soon as he watched Jason and Captain Rose walk down the ramp, the man began to walk toward them, which made the soldiers raise their spears.

"Captain Rose and Mr. Smith, I presume." said the man, in impeccable English, as he stood very close to them, and held out his right hand to the pair.

"Yes, I am Captain Jonathan Rose, of the Sea Diamond, and this is Jason Ryan Smith, passenger and temporary translator, and the person who spoke to Thomas Berget", the captain explained as he shook hands with the man, being followed by Jason.

"My name is Kai, and I am the Lord Chamberlain of the castle. But where is Lieutenant Berget?"

Jason looked from Captain Rose to Kai and back to the captain, before swallowing; the old sea-wolf, apparently, had said nothing, _absolutely nothing_ , about the shipwreck of HMAS Vålerenga and about Berget's death.

Rose, in turn, glanced sideways at Jason before turning to Kai. "Maybe it would be better to explain what happened inside the carriage."

Nodding in agreement, Kai led the sailor and the exile into the carriage. As soon as the vehicle began to move, the soldiers around her hurried to follow her.

For Jason, riding in a closed carriage like that, pulled by a quartet of horses, was very strange - at his house on Westside Island, his family carriage was open, and when he, his younger sister and his parents used the vehicle, it was pleasing to feel the wind in his hair, in the middle of the tropical climate of the island's coast.

Glancing quickly at Rose, Jason could see that the captain was not completely one-hundred percent comfortable either - which the blue-haired young man suspected had to do with his being accustomed to the Sea Diamond. The only one that seemed to be completely at ease in the carriage was Kai.

"Well, now that we're on our way to the castle... what happened?"

Jason and Rose looked at each other for a second; the captain nodded before turning to Kai.

"Well, it all started two days ago…"

And Rose explained everything, from the moment they spotted Thomas Berget floating in the sea, clutching the wreckage of HMAS Vålerenga, going through the rescue, the report of the shipwreck made for Jason, the death of the king and the queen - which made Kai, who already have naturally white skin, became even paler -, the supreme jewel and the death of Berget.

"By all the gods…" whispered Kai as soon as Rose finished her story. "I can't even begin to imagine the princess's reaction when she learns of this."

Rose and Jason looked at each other again in surprise. What was the Lord Chamberlain trying to say?

"Well, let me explain", said Kai, looking at the exile and the old sea-wolf. "Princess Elsa... since she was born, she has control over ice and snow."

"Yeah, we already knew about the rumors", commented Jason, glancing sideways at Westphalian-style houses - some were residences, others were shops of the most varied styles, from food and cleaning materials to jewelry stores.

"But it's not rumors, it's facts", Kai replied, in a harder tone than he intended. "Sorry, Mr. Smith, it's just that it's not easy having to deal with this news. Anyways... Her Highness was one year old when her younger sister was born, Princess Anna. However, when they were five and four years old, respectively…"

Kai fell silent. Jason noticed that whatever had happened was a very heavy subject, especially considering what Rose had told him on the ship: that the future queen had a younger sister who had died as a child.

 _This was Princess Anna?_ , thought the exile.

"No one knows exactly what happened... what I do know is that the two princesses were playing in the castle hall in the middle of the night when there was an accident. A soldier, unfortunately I can not remember his name... wait!", cried Kai, looking closely at Jason. "How old are you, Mr. Smith?"

"What?", asked the exile, surprised at the sudden change of subject.

"Answer me, now!" Exclaimed the Lord Chamberlain, forcefully.

"Twenty, sir", the young man replied, still trying to contain the surprise. "I'm twenty-years old since last June."

"Ah…" Kai murmured, assuming the expression of a balloon being emptied. "I'm sorry, is that... Mr. Smith, this is going to sound weird, but the soldier I'm talking about was a lot like you."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, he was literally the same as you, except he was a few years older... Anyway, I'm sorry, I thought you could be him."

"No, all right, I understand…", Jason muttered, pondering what he had just heard... if what Kai was saying was true, then this man... was his father.

His father.

Two words that made his heart ache. Not for the reasons everyone would imagine, but for reasons only he and his family knew.

It was undoubtedly an unimaginable pain.

"Anyways", resumed the Lord Chamberlain, plucking Jason from his thoughts. "The fact is that this soldier appeared with Princess Anna wounded in his arms, followed by a princess Elsa completely inconsolable. Their Majesties, King Agdar and Queen Idunn, left the castle with the girls that very night, towards the North Mountain. They came back only the next morning, with Elsa... and Anna's body wrapped in a linen sheet; she had died at dawn."

Jason felt his heart break in a million pieces.

"After the funeral and burial of Princess Anna, the king closed the gates of the castle for about two years, while the royal family was in mourning. But even after the end of that period, Princess Elsa... she appeared a few times outside the castle, I dare say she never overcame completely the mourning for her younger sister's death."

Jason did not know what to say. He did not really know.

"That is why I ask that we have to be careful when we give the news to Her Highness, I can not measure the size of the pain she will feel."

"I see, my Lord," Rose agreed, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "Perhaps it is best that you start speaking, and Mr. Smith and myself will only speak if requested", the captain added, with both Kai and Jason agreeing.

None of them spoke for the rest of the trip; Jason took the rest of the ride to look at the bustling streets of the Royal City of Arendelle, filled with people working and shopping in the morning sunlight.

He seized the quiet moment to put the leather bag with the supreme jewel - the Chaos Emerald - in his bag, along with the rest of his luggage.

Then, as he looked around the city, a massive construction entered his field of view. It was a huge castle, old-fashioned, surrounded by huge walls; these, in turn, were surrounded by water on all sides, transforming the place into the definition of a man-made island - except for a bridge linking the castle to the rest of Royal City of Arendelle. At various points on the wall, the crocus coat of arms framed the towers, making it clear what the purpose of the castle was.

This was the residence of the Royal Family of Arendelle, now composed of a single member.

As the carriage approached the castle, the exile wondered if the future queen would accept his claim for political asylum. After all, she needed good reason to accept it, and he had an intuition that she would know if he was lying at some point in his story.

And he could say, at least to himself, that he had done things he was not proud of during his escape from the old Doctor's laboratory. The gods knew that he had had innumerable nightmares during his travel from Westside to Arendelle - he could still hear the screams of those men, he could smell the metallic blood that he had shed, feel the dying atmosphere that had fallen in laboratory.

It was at this moment of the journey that he felt himself leave the present moment, his body, his soul, himself.

It was as if he were traveling to another world.

* * *

 _He was in a ballroom filled with elegantly dressed men and women, who sipped glasses of champagne and chatted merrily; some couples waltzed in the center of the room, lulled by lively music played by the orchestra._

 _As he looked at himself, Jason was surprised to see that he was as elegant as the other people in that hall - he wore a white coat and pants with black leather shoes, and the chest of his coat was with two decorations that he knew were presented to Westside Island's military heroes._

 _He didn't know why he was wearing them - they were not only owned by his father, but had disappeared during the invasion._

 _But that was not important at the moment. What mattered was finding out where he was, and what was happening._

 _Looking around the room, two things caught the exile's attention: first, the crocus coat of arms was on the wall, which indicated where he was - in Arendelle._

 _Where, exactly, he did not know yet, but he could say right away that it was a rather luxurious place, not only because of the people who were there, but due to the decoration: armor, beautiful pictures of men and women wearing expensive clothes and stained glass with the crocus design._

 _The second thing that had attracted attention was the presence of a young girl in her early twenties with blonde-platinum hair wrapped in a tight braid and wearing a teal dress with black sleeves and the coat of crocus on the bodice, plus a purple cape - the royal color._

 _A golden tiara adorned the top of her head - which implied that she, whoever she was, was a member of royalty._

 _Gathering the details of what was around him, Jason already suspected who she was._

 _However, an excited shout confirmed his suspicions._

 _"Elsa!", exclaimed a young woman in about eighteen years old, with strawberry-blonde hair wrapped in two twin braids; she wore a pretty green dress, similar to the one worn by the other girl, though in less detail. She was accompanied by a man with red hair and sideburns (who Jason found disturbing), wearing clothes similar to the his own: white coat and pants, with several medals affixed to the chest of his coat._

 _That made Jason's stomach twist in fear._

 _Those were military decorations of the Southern Isles._

 _The country that had invaded and conquered Westside Island._

 _That had imprisoned Jason, his parents and his sister, as well as the royal family and thousands of soldiers and citizens of his island._

 _And that had made him spend a year in hell._

 _The exile remembered the last time he had seen the man - it was impossible to forget the arrogant air on his face when he and his brothers saw Jason and his family being placed in a prison carriage, linked to two pairs of horses, at the entrance of their house on Westside Island._

 _Prince Hans of the Southern Isles._

 _Jason tried to figure out what was happening: he knew he was not there, at this ball, but in the carriage with Rose and Kai, on the way to this very castle. He also knew that he was not wearing an elegant outfit with his father's military decorations, but the clothes and cloak he had taken from his house, dodging the vigilance of the Southern Isles' soldiers, before continuing incognito to the port of Westside Island, where he had arranged - not 100% honestly - a passage to Avalor, where he boarded another ship bound for Corona, and then taken a vessel to the Royal City of Arendelle._

 _At the sound of Elsa's voice - the queen, he remembered - Jason forced himself to turn off his thoughts as to how he had gotten there and paid attention to the conversation._

 _"What happened, Anna?", she asked in a neutral tone._

Anna? That's not the name of _\- Jason shut up inwardly. After all, Kai had said, minutes ago, that Princess Anna of Arendelle had died years before. So how was she there, arm in arm with a prince from the Southern Isles?_

 _The exile turned his attention to Anna - she was ecstatic, as if she had received an offer that was beyond reproach. Her teal eyes shone so bright that Jason wondered what might have happened._

 _"We wanted…", Anna began, ecstatic but also slightly insecure._

 _"...your blessing…", Hans continued, apparently as ecstatic as the girl - though the Westside Island's exile knew from experience how the prince was able to mask his true feelings._

 _"... **for our marriage**!", exclaimed the two at the same time._

 _Jason had to use all his willpower not to let his jaw drop. That could only be a bad taste joke, right? After all, who, in their right mind, would marry a monster like Prince Hans?_

 _Apparently, Elsa was thinking something like that: she was as shocked as Jason, her mouth slightly gaping and her eyes empty. She stayed that way for about ten seconds, before speaking again._

 _"Ma... marriage?"_

 _"Don't worry, we have time to prepare the invitations for his family too…", Anna rambled, not paying any attention to Elsa's less than happy reaction._

 _"Yes, there are twelve brothers, besides my parents," Hans commented._

 _"And we also have to start preparations, maybe give time to get married in the fall…"_

 _"Sister…" Elsa began, catching Jason's attention - this confirmed his suspicion that the strawberry-blonde-haired girl was really Princess Anna (though she wasn't dead - but Jason left that detail for later, focused as he was in the conversation). "May I talk to you, please? Alone?"_

 _"No, whatever you have to say, you - you can say to both of us", replied the princess. With a weary sigh, Elsa went straight to the point._

 _"Very well, in that case... There will be no marriage!"_

 _"Wait, what?" Anna asked, moving from excitement to shock, and then to disappointment in two seconds. Taking a deep breath, Elsa tried to explain the situation:_

 _"Anna, you can't marry a man you just met."_

 _"But, Elsa... it's true love, don't you understand?"_

 _"Anna, what do you know about true love?", countered the queen, trying to prove a point - but attracting an angry response from her sister._

 _"More than you. All you can do is drive people away."_

 _Jason flinched at the princess' statement; well, he was not quite sure what was happening, but he did not need to be a genius to say that no matter what the reason was, the response had been quite violent._

 _"No, Anna, you just met him! I understand you might have fallen in love, but... getting married? No, no, no, you will not have my blessing!"_

 _"Your Majesty…" Hans began to speak, but Elsa raised her hand to keep him from continuing._

 _"No, do not even start. You wanted my blessing, and the answer is no." With that, she turned and walked over to a man dressed elegantly in butler clothes - which Jason recognized as Kai. Straining his ears and approaching as discreetly as possible, the blue-haired man heard the platinum-blond-haired monarch say, "Close the gates, the party is over."_

 _Hans bent to mutter something in Anna's ear, but the girl jerked away from him and advanced to Elsa as she was beginning to walk toward the throne. As soon as she held the glove that covered the queen's hand, it was pulled; Elsa let out an almost inaudible gasp and turned to face her sister. "Give me my glove!", she requested, slightly panicked._

 _However, Anna did not give her the glove - she began to walk backwards, taking tentative steps, holding the glove as if it were a valuable treasure. However, Jason noticed a desperate look in her teal eyes. "Elsa, please... **please**! I can't live this way!", cried the girl, beginning to attract the attention of the guests._

 _" **Then go**!", the queen exploded, causing the whole room to silence as she watched the discussion between the two girls. Anna's face took on a pained expression as Elsa turned and started walking toward the door._

 _"What did I do to you?", Anna screamed, moving from despair to anger in a matter of a few seconds. Jason felt a shiver run down his spine - usually, he only felt it when the situation was about to get out of control._

 _"Enough, Anna!", cried Elsa, trying to impose her authority, and attracting various whispers from the guests. As the shiver grew stronger, Jason decided to act, starting to walk toward the two sisters, desperately trying not to release his ability._

 _"NO! Why? Why did you abandon me? Why did you move away from the whole world?_ _ **What are you so afraid of**?" The princess shot in a furious, desperate tone. Jason hastily stepped forward before attempting to catch the monarch's attention - he was sure something was about to happen. "Maj..."_

 _"I said, ENOUGH!", Elsa bellowed, striking the air with her hand - the ice left her fingers like an arrow from a bow, forming a line of icicles on the ground._

 _A deathly silence filled the hall - broken by a little man with white hair and a monocle, who stepped forward and, pointing to the queen, screamed. "Monster!"_

 _Seeing the frightened expression on the queen's face, Jason stopped walking towards her, and turned to the little man - the exile felt a shiver as he recognized him._

 _This was one of the main allies of the Southern Isles, and one of the leaders of the Westside Island invasion, as well as the Doctor's patron._

 _The Duke of Weselton._

 _Feeling an overwhelming rage over him, Jason ignored that he was in a crowded room, and as soon as he saw his way clear, he released his ability for the first time in days - and for the first time, of his own free will, in a year. A collective gulp took hold of the dignitaries when, without warning, Jason advanced on the duke with supernatural speed, leaving a blue blur in the air._

 _Furious, he grabbed the Duke by the throat and lifted him into the air in two seconds, whispering quietly. "The only monster here is you... Weaselton."_

 _"We-Weselton! It's Weselton!", stammered the duke, struggling in the air, his neck being slowly tightened by the royal-blue-haired man._

 _Before he could say anything else, a flash came from the middle of nowhere, blinding everyone in the room - yet Jason was busy, choking the man who had helped destroy his life and his family, until..._

* * *

"Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith, wake up!", exclaimed a voice, making Jason come out of his stupor.

Blinking frantically, he glanced sideways, though he only saw the same white flash from seconds ago - until Kai and Rose slowly entered his field of view, both with frightened and worried expressions.

"What... what? What was it... what happened? "He stammered nervously - he could still feel the veins of the Duke of Weselton's neck in his hands, even if that was, as it turned out, a hallucination.

"I'm asking the questions here, Mr. Smith!", exclaimed the old sea-wolf, very nervous. "You look dazed, and began to murmur a series of incomprehensible words, Lord Chamberlain Kai and I feared you might be ill!"

What none of them knew was that, at that moment, two shining jewels that were tucked away in two leather handbags, both neatly hidden in Jason's luggage, were beginning to fading out at that moment.

"I... I don't know what happened", Jason murmured, putting his hands to his head. "I was looking at the streets next to the castle, thinking about the things that had happened until I got here, when my sight turned white... Suddenly... it seemed like I was... I don't know, in another life or in another dimension."

He decided not to tell Kai and Rose what he had seen in his vision. Not only because this might raise unwanted questions about his abilities, but he simply could not explain to the Lord Chamberlain how Princess Anna, who died more than ten years ago, was there.

"And what... and what did you see, Mr. Smith?"

"I don't know, I've seen some half-blurred figures... it's as if I'm seeing an incomplete picture coming to life, Lord Kai", Jason lied unabashedly. Seeing that both the Sea Diamond's captain and the Lord Chamberlain accepted his explanation without question, he decided to change the subject. "But anyways... where are we?"

"In the courtyard of the castle, Mr. Smith. We just arrived, so it's only a matter of time before we go to the Throne Room…"

"...better known as the 'Wailing Wall'", concluded Rose, which caused Jason to look at him with a confused expression and Kai wince disdainfully. "As the late king and queen listened to several people a day, including many complaints and disputes for various reasons, the population began to refer to the Throne Room by that name. Not that the nobility and the castle officials like it."

Kai did not respond to Rose's comment - instead, he opened the carriage door and motioned for the two travelers to leave the vehicle.

The soldiers who had accompanied the carriage on their way through the Royal City formed an honor guard, while Kai escorted Jason and Rose to the castle's front door; making a sign for the two to wait, the Lord Chamberlain stepped forward and knocked four times on the door.

Thirty seconds later, it opened, allowing the trio to enter the massive building.

Jason felt a chill creep down his spine as he entered the castle - this was a clear sign that something very important was about to happen...

* * *

 _Author's note: Well, at last, I decided to update early... but, first of all, thank you for all the feedback in chapter 1! I just hope that this chapter matches your expectations, since we got a few more questions, especially in the vision scene._

 _And, in next chapter, a new character will enter (at least, officially) this story - Elsa. And it's time to deliver the sad news... so, expect a lot of ice and frost in the Throne Room. And some people asked me about Anna, since I stated explicitly that she's dead. Well, don't worry, because Anna will enter this story, with a major role - but I have to say that her role is what's expected of her._

 _And, once more, a heartful thank you to my faithful proofreaders and friends, Walard and Striga! And to my amazing brothers, AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent, for all their support in thi_ _s project!_

 _See you next chapter!_


	3. The Lady and the Tramp

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and itens in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 3 - The Lady and the Tramp**

Jason and Captain Rose had to wait to be heard.

As no one in Arendelle knew of the death of the monarchs - everyone on the _Sea Diamond_ who had witnessed the conversation between Jason and Berget, had been persuaded not to spread the word -, Kai had rearranged Princess Elsa's agenda (although, at that moment, she would attend as regent) so the two travelers were the last ones to be heard today.

Jason took advantage of the moment to rummage through his luggage, searching for the leather bag with the violet Chaos Emerald that had been delivered by Berget.

It was easy to find it, as the crocus coat of arms made it clear where the jewel he was looking for was, since he had no intention of getting rid of the white jewel he'd stolen from the Egghead - he knew what the Chaos Emeralds, when assembled, were capable of doing, and if he kept at least one in his possession, he could avoid a catastrophe. Even more so, considering the legends he had heard in his personal hell that was his year in the Doctor's lab… Especially one related to the mythological Angel Island.

"Mr. Smith, Captain Rose", Kai called, pulling Jason out of his thoughts - the Lord Chamberlain had opened the door and halfway into the waiting room. "Her Royal Highness is finalizing a meeting with the Council, she is already aware that you are awaiting an audience. You will be the next to be heard."

They both nodded, and Kai to returned to the Throne Room. Rose, who looked a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of meeting the princess, turned to Jason and asked. "What are your plans at Arendelle, Mr. Smith?"

Jason looked at Rose for a few seconds before answering. "Honestly, I don't know, Captain... I'm most likely going to try and enter the Hunters' Guild, since my father taught me how to hunt when I was a child. Now that my family is in the hands of the Southern Isles, I need to get a job to survive - that is, as long as the princess accepts my application for political asylum. "

Jonathan Rose nodded before speaking. "Given all that has happened, and who your family is, I believe your request will be accepted without major problems."

"Thank you for your support, Captain. That means a lot to me", Jason said, giving the sailor a brief smile as he played with his luggage. "And you, will you continue to route between Arendelle and Corona? Or do you have other plans?"

"Well, I don't always stay on this route, I alternate between routes that pass through Soleanna, Empire City, Mazuri, Avalor, Spagonia, Arendelle and Shamar, so... I can say that this work allows me to travel and experience the world, but…"

"But?" Asked the young man, raising a bluish eyebrow.

"But I've left my youth behind, and I think it's time to retire... my daughter, Amelia, whom my wife and I call Amy, is already a grown woman, and she's about to get married. I've missed too much of my daughter's life during my service in the Corona Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy after I was discharged from the military service, so... I think it's time to retire, but I still have to talk to the board of the Merchant Navy to establish deadlines."

"I see, Captain. I…" Jason began, before being interrupted by the clatter of doors being opened and Kai's deep, resounding voice in his most professional tone.

"Her Royal Highness will receive you now, sirs."

Jason and Rose nodded as they got up and walked to where the Lord Chamberlain was. "Remember what we have agreed upon, I will introduce you both and tell the reason for the hearing. Just answer what the princess asks, so that we don't run the risk of the news being said before the right time."

"Is there ever a right time to tell someone that their parents died?", muttered Jason to himself, incredulous. The two nodded once more, and Kai opened the gate for the two of them to enter the Throne Room.

The exile blinked incredulously at the room: it was ample, decorated with crocus coats of arms, as well as portraits of men and women wearing military uniforms - which would seem strange if Arendelle hadn't been the first country to allow female military service. Jason assumed the pictures depicted the deceased rulers. A wooden throne, also decorated with the crocus, was at the back of the room, which was much like the room in which he had been in his vision - though the Throne Room was reasonably smaller than the room where the ball occurred in his vision, or hallucination, he wasn't sure.

An eighteen-year-old woman sat on the throne, looking at the two strangers with some curiosity, although her posture conveyed seriousness and composure. She had platinum-blond hair tied in a French braid, and a pale blue dress that seemed to be shining, reflecting the rays of the evening sun. Her blue eyes, almost heavenly in tone, were glowing with anticipation about the possible significance of this audience.

 _She is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen_ , Jason thought, rushing forward not to be left behind by Rose and Kai. When the three men came within ten feet of the throne, the Lord Chamberlain stepped forward and, with a respectful bow, and announced. "Your Royal Highness, I present Captain Jonathan Rose and Mr. Jason Ryan Smith."

"Mr. Smith, Captain Rose, Your Royal Highness and Regent, Princess Elsa of Arendelle."

The two foreigners bowed to the princess; as he lifted his head again, Jason could not help noticing how close Elsa was to the queen that had appeared in his vision; the only difference was the braid - in the vision, it was well crafted and pinned to her head, while the young woman he was seeing was using a simpler French braid in comparison.

Another thing he could see, paying close attention, was a small shadow in her eyes. A shadow that existed on the other Elsa, though for different reasons.

It was the mourning that insisted on not disappearing.

"Welcome to Arendelle, gentlemen, how can I be of service to you?", greeted the princess in English as perfect as that spoken by her Lord Chamberlain - _apparently_ , Jason thought, _I will not have to do translation work during the hearing_.

Rose glanced sideways at Kai before nodding; fulfilling what had been agreed upon, the Lord Chamberlain began to speak. "Captain Jonathan Rose is the commander of a ship, the Sea Diamond, which belongs to the Coronan Merchant Navy; one of the routes made by the vessel connects the Royal City of Arendelle to Helios, capital of Corona. Two days ago, when the ship was already on its last few miles before arriving at Arendelle, a castaway was sighted, holding onto a piece of a ship that had sunk that dawn."

"Yes, and... and what does this have to do with our kingdom?" Elsa asked, not understanding the reason for this audience, which had been requested at the last minute. "If the castaway is from Arendelle, it would be better to wait for my parents to return from the official visit to Spagonia... although they should arrive any minute now, so I do not understand what you have to talk about."

Kai swallowed hard before continuing his narrative. "The castaway was a native of Arendelle, and that was where Mr. Jason Ryan Smith had been called for, since, according to Captain Rose, he knows several languages. The man spoke about a ship that had been caught the night before by a storm, and he was the only survivor... before he died right there, on the deck of the Sea Diamond. According to Captain Rose, Mr. Smith and the ship's doctor, Dr. Wolfgang Petersen, the castaway suffered from hypothermia, but died from a pulmonary hemorrhage, as his lungs were pierced by the ribs."

Elsa blinked, clearly confused, before turning to Rose. "I'm sorry to hear that, Captain, but I still do not understand what the Crown has to do with this shipwreck. If the man was from the Royal Navy, this matter is to be dealt with by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and if he was from the Merchant Navy, it's a matter to deal with the Navy's board. Unless he's a Royal Guard, then the Crown would be directly involved."

Knowing that this was exactly the case, Jason looked sideways at Kai and waved a hand indicating that he would like to speak. With an indecipherable expression, the Lord Chamberlain nodded, and Jason turned to the monarch before speaking for the first time. "Your Royal Highness... my name is Jason Ryan Smith, I was aboard the ship and I helped rescue the castaway. I would like to clarify a doubt. "

The princess nodded slightly, allowing him to continue his line of reasoning.

"How many Royal Guards are out of the castle at the moment?"

If the princess was even more confused than ever by this question, she did not show it - instead she put her hand to her chin and assumed a thoughtful position for a few seconds. "In addition to a detachment of 40 men and women accompanying my parents on their official visit to Spagonia, each ambassador abroad has the right to bring a Royal Guard to their team. But... right, now I have the following question, Mr. Smith: What do you actually want to know?", she asked, in a determined tone, which didn't show any objections.

Jason swallowed hard. Now, he would have to say what had happened, since there was no chance of an evasive answer without annoying the soon-to-be-queen. Glancing at Rose and Kai, he nodded (and received two head-nods from the old sea-wolf and the Lord Chamberlain in response) before turning to Elsa. "Your Royal Highness... or, rather, _Your Majesty_ , the castaway we rescued and who died aboard the Sea Diamond is Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Berget of the Royal Guard, who was aboard HMAS Vålerenga."

The princess's eyes widened, beginning to link the dots.

"He told me that the ship was struck by a storm three nights ago, and that it sunk due to the violence of the waves, which broke the vessel in half."

"No, please, not what I'm thinking," the princess murmured anxiously as a thin layer of frost began to spread around the throne. Turning his attention to his luggage, Jason withdrew the leather pouch with the Chaos Emerald.

"According to Berget, the king and the queen threw a bottle with a message to the sea before delivering to him a leather bag with Arendelle's supreme jewel for security reasons. Before he could reach a lifeboat, however, a wave threw the lieutenant into the ocean, and he returned to the surface in time to see the ship being broken and sunk with all the people who were on board... "

The ice continued to spread through the throne room, at the same time Elsa's blue eyes began to fill with tears; she kept murmuring "not true..."

"...including your parents, Your Highness. According to Berget, there were no survivors, and three days have passed since then, which makes survival chances almost impossible. I... I'm sorry", Jason finished; in the next second, he felt a snowflake landing in his face.

In a few seconds, the Throne Room became a winter wonderland - it was covered by a layer of ice and frost from the ceiling to the floor, and a thin but persistent snow fell upon the room.

"Your Highness?" Kai stammered, approaching the future monarch. "Wh... what can I do?"

When Elsa spoke again, her voice was devoid of any emotion. "Alert the council and begin the funeral proceedings. We will not have bodies to bury, but the memories of my parents will be respected nonetheless... and, as regent, I decree an official mourning of thirty days."

Kai nodded, before asking... with some fear. "And as for Captain Rose and Mr. Smith? The captain has his ship, but Mr. Smith fled from Westside Island, which, as you may recall, was occupied about a year ago by the Southern Isles and Weselton."

"My family was taken as a prisoner to the Southern Isles, Your Highness, and I spent a year imprisoned in Westside, under the yoke of a Weselton scientist. It was a few weeks ago that I finally managed to escape, and I took a ship to Avalor - from there, I went to Corona and from there I took the Sea Diamond to Arendelle. I came here in order to apply for political asylum, but I do not think that's important now", he said, hugging himself in an attempt to protect himself from the cold.

Elsa did not say anything for several minutes - she seemed to be staring at the three men, but a more thoughtful person would realize that her mind was gone. The intensity of the snow increased in the meantime, making Jason hug himself tighter - the heavy robe which he'd put on as the ship docked at Arendelle helped to reduce the feeling of intense cold, but it was not enough.

"Kai, prepare a guest wing room for Mr. Smith, and make sure he's well taken care of during his stay at the castle. Prepare an escort to accompany Captain Rose back to his ship so that we can bring Lieutenant Berget's body back to receive due respect from his family and friends. And tell the heralds that my parents' death must be announced throughout the country, the mourning period begins from the moment they inform each city", said Elsa, in the same emotionless tone she had assumed from from the moment she learned that her parents had died; at the same time, the snow was decreasing in intensity.

Glancing briefly at the two foreigners, the monarch turned to Kai. "The hearing is over, gentlemen, I... I'm retiring to my room. Mr. Smith, the Lord Chamberlain will take you to your quarters, and Captain Rose, a detachment will be selected to accompany you to your ship." She rose from the throne, with an indecipherable expression. "Gentlemen."

The three bowed before turning to leave the Throne Room. When Kai finally closed the door after Jason and Rose left the room, the tears that Elsa had been holding up until now began to run down the princess's pale face.

The snow, which had stabilized, began to grow again in intensity until it became a storm occupying the entire Throne Room - however, the monarch's heart had been destroyed by an even greater storm.

First, her sister. Now, her parents. She was completely alone.

* * *

Hours later, Jason was in the room that had been designated for his stay in the castle, until he had the hearing with the princess about his request for political asylum. The young man had been lying on the bed for almost an hour, staring at the Chaos Emeralds he held in each of his hands - with the princess's intense reaction to the death of her parents, the return of Arendelle's supreme jewel had been completely forgotten.

However, it was nothing that could not be resolved without further complications.

The biggest problem, however, was whether his asylum request would be accepted - he really wanted to stay in Arendelle, no matter how much he knew his cousin would welcome him in Soleanna.

In fact, he was sure she would want to kill him when she discovered that he had moved to the far north of the world, not to the Mediterranean.

However, it was better this way: not only could he rebuild his life unnoticed, but there were also less chances of meeting agents of the Doctor - after all, most of the Westside Island refugees had moved to the country, trying to start their lives from scratch after the Southern Islers' and Weseltonian's invaded their island.

And considering all that had happened during his escape from the laboratory, it was no surprise that the Egghead was desperate to capture him again… and the white jewel he had stolen during the escape.

And the worst thing is that the Doctor knew absolutely everything about his family, which made refuge in Soleanna a high risk bet.

Jason let out a sigh - it would not do any good to mumble the possibilities of what might happen if he had caught another ship in the port of Helios, what mattered was that he was safe and sound in Arendelle. And if everything went according to plan, very soon he would begin working in his new profession.

On the way to his room, Kai had said that the Arendelle Hunters' Guild was not very large, but they were always willing to accept the admission of a new member as long as he proved he had the skills necessary for that profession.

The word was that the guild leader, Adéwalé, was one of the toughest men the country had ever known - a former slave who had fled the captivity in the West Antilles years ago and fought tooth and nail to reach a land where slavery had been abolished decades ago. Now he was the most skillful hunter among his peers, and a fairly strict man in the choice of a possible apprentice - he only accepted the best among the best.

That said, it was not surprising that he had only had three apprentices over the twenty years he was in the Guild - most of the young people joining the organization were trained by other experienced hunters.

Therefore, being trained by Adéwalé was a real honor - one that Jason was going to achieve, even if he had to kill and die for it.

And no, he was not saying that as a figure of speech - after all, what was one more death to a man who had wanted posters scattered all over Weselton, accused of fifteen homicides during the flight from the laboratory?

Jason came to the conclusion that thinking about what-ifs wouldn't do any good at the moment - it was best to try to rest until the actual funeral. Only after his next hearing with the princess could he try to decide what to do about his old life.

"Well, Kai told me that all I had to do was ring a bell at the entrance of the room for a servant to take care of me. Let's see if this system works", muttered Jason, depositing the Chaos Emeralds on a nightstand beside the bed and getting up to the door, where a small bell was attached to a frame on the wall with a cord attached to the instrument.

Pulling the cord, Jason could not help but notice one thing: the bell was made of ice, with a snowflake decorating the same. Two minutes after the sound of the bell echoed through the bedroom and down the hall, the door opened, revealing a tall, thin woman in a green dress - the same green as Kai's clothing. She appeared to be middle-aged, with her brown hair beginning to silver, and a kind smile on her face - which, however, did not reach her eyes.

Jason guessed that she already knew the fate of Agdar and Idunn - however, as the news of the death would only be announced the next day, it was still not possible to wear black clothes in mourning.

"Good night Sir. My name is Gerda, I am the Chief Maid of the Royal Castle of Arendelle. How can I help you?"

"Well, ma'am-or miss?", Jason asked, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Mrs. Amundsen, since Kai Amundsen, the Lord Chamberlain, is my husband", replied Gerda softly.

Still embarrassed by the previous question, Jason decided to explain the reason for the call. "Well, Mrs. Amundsen, it's just that I arrived in Arendelle a few hours ago, and I have not taken a shower yet, so…"

"I understand, Mr. Smith. Well, don't worry, I'll send a maid to prepare a bath, do you prefer hot, warm, or cold water?"

"Well... warm, I guess. Thank you very much", said the exile. Gerda bowed slightly before turning around and leaving the room, probably to delegate the task of preparing a warm bath in the bathroom adjacent to the room for a maid.

Half an hour later, the refugee was preparing himself to enter the bath after thanking the maid who had filled it with warm water, as he had requested. His attention had been drawn to the fact that, even though she was only fourteen years old (yes, he had asked her age), she already knew what to do, which meant experience.

It was only after she had explained that in the castle, most of the staff began to work in their respective professions as a child, which he understood because this did not seem to catch anyone else's attention.

Because if this happened in the coastal palace on Westside Island, a few eyebrows would certainly rise - but that was the price of moving to a country on the other side of the world; cultural shock.

Nothing he couldn't get used to.

Taking off his traveling tunic, Jason noticed the two tattoos that adorned his shoulders: on the left side, was a blue hedgehog, curled up in a ball; on the right was a rose of the winds. According to his parents, those tattoos had been there since he was a baby, and no one had a clue as to how they had appeared there.

What was even stranger about the drawings is that when they appeared, they were very small; as Jason grew older, the tattoos grew larger and larger, until they acquired their current shape.

At least he prayed that Arendellian society would not have the same prejudices about tattoos that existed in other countries - he had already read that in places like Nihon, having such a design was a statement of a dark past; according to a book he had read, each criminal group had its own tattoos, indicating place of origin, gang status, years spent in jail, religious beliefs, and other information. Basically, tattoos formed a report about the person who used them.

During the time he was immersed in the bathtub, he noticed that as much as he was willing to live in Arendelle, overcoming the cultural shock would not be easy - travelling to Soleanna would have been calmer in comparison because of the similarities between the cultures of the two countries.

He only hoped that, over the years, that change would weigh less for him.

* * *

"Father?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think…"

"What, my son?"

"Do you think we'll ever find my sister one day?"

The man sighed softly at this question; since his wife and youngest daughter had died, his eldest son always asked at irregular intervals whether they would ever find the middle daughter, whose body had never been found in the ruins of the village in which they lived.

The fact that there was no body gave him hope, but, as it had been five years since the massacre - from which he and his son had only escaped because they had traveled to harvest ice on a frozen lake a few miles away the day before -, the father saw his prayers losing more and more strength; even the comforting words of his friends, the "love experts," as his son called them, did not soothe him as they had in the first few months.

"Kristoff, my son, the gods know that I would love as much as you would that we could find my daughter, my Anna Maria... but it has been so long since Mylai, and... sometimes I wanted to believe in the sun god of Time of Soleanna, and to be able to return five years in time to rescue my family."

"But, Papa…"

"Kris, my son... please do not talk about it any more. At least not for today", murmured the blond man, turning his face away so that his son would not see the tears in his teal eyes - the same eyes as his missing daughter.

Sometimes, Jonas Bjorgman wondered if one day this pain would pass - no matter how Grand Pabbie assured him, the fact is that every time he approached the ruins of Mylai, or saw any of the objects belonging to his wife, or his youngest daughter, he felt his heart shatter a little more.

Instead of diminishing, the pain only grew more and more.

Glancing at his son, who was picking up the ice-cutting saw while being watched by his pet reindeer, Sven, Jonas wondered if he could bear the pain in time to teach Kristoff all he knew about the profession of ice harvester - at the age of eighteen years, his son had a natural talent for this work, but Jonas always said that the work of a master was only completed the day he had nothing else to teach his apprentice - and that day still had not arrived.

Besides, Kristoff also had his own demons to deal with - Jonas knew that he and Anna had always been close together since she was born, thirteen years ago. The first time she'd crawled, she'd gone to her older brother, the first word she'd said was "Kris," all the firsts of her life had been with Kristoff - _the two had a connection deeper than many people could dream of_ , Jonas thought.

It wasn't that the young man didn't love his mother and his younger sister, quite the opposite - but because of all that he and Anna had done together, the disappearance of the older Bjorgman girl had been harder for the younger ice harvester.

"Papa?"

"Yes, my son?"

"The equipment is ready, shall we? That guild said they could wait, but not for long."

"Okay, Kris, get the sled on Sven and go ahead. I'll be right over", said Jonas; after nodding, Kristoff went to do what his father had requested. As he watched his son and his reindeer headed for the partially frozen lake - it would only be 100% frozen in two months, at best - Jonas looked up at the starry sky and murmured. "I don't know who is listening to me at this moment, but I ask, from the bottom of my heart, that... that if my daughter, if my Anna Maria Bjorgman, is alive, that she can come back to us... that I want to see the freckled face of my little girl before I die."

* * *

 _Author's Note: A very angsty chapter I have to concede... but it was necessary for the story. And we will have new characters entering the next chapter, including the last of the three main characters - but she has a few changes..._

 _And, with this chapter, I've decided to completely leave the scheduled updates - by now, every time I complete an advanced chapter (by now, I've completed chapter 11 - Blood Debt), I will update this fic as an intermediate chapter will be translated and sent for proofreading (Chapter 8 - Masquerade)._

 _By the way, I love getting feedback (as every writer does), so, if you could be so kind, please leave a review, it's what fuels me to continue with this story - knowing that you are reading and sending feedback about it._

 _See you next chapter!_


	4. Requiescat in Pace

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

Special disclaimer: this chapter is dedicated to **Arendellecitizen** , whose drabbles - especially one - inspired part of this plot.

 **Chapter 4 - Requiescat in Pace**

The next night, a solitary figure sneaked through the deserted streets of the Royal City of Arendelle.

With a black leather hood shielding her face from the icy wind of the October night, she leaned against the wall of a house and looked around to see if there were any patrols on the streets - even if the princess had not decreed a curfew for mourning, the majority of the city's taverns had closed the doors that same day, in respect to the memory of the deceased king and queen.

 _Which is a pity_ , the figure thought, seconds before sprinting from one alley to another, getting closer to her target. _I need a drink to stay warm tonight_.

However, the lack of alcohol in her blood was also a blessing: it helped her stay focused on her target.

One of the damn bastards who had destroyed her previous life; if it wasn't her mother asking her to hide in the trunk... maybe she would not have found her _Herre_ , her mentor.

Maybe she would not even be alive anymore.

Shaking her head to dismiss these thoughts, the figure looked again to either side of the street before moving to another alley. She repeated this action three more times before she saw the two-storey blue house, built in Westphalian style, whose roof was covered with snow created by the crown princess' powers.

Future Queen Elsa.

This was one of the names that made her blood boil - even though she was still a teenager when her family was wiped off the map, she had her responsibility as a member of the Royal Family, to whom the Arendelle Armed Forces had made an oath.

But the dream of piercing the Royal Heart, which she had cherished since she had managed to understand everything which wasn't possible in her childhood, would have to be delayed for another time.

The sounds of footsteps caused the figure to freeze in a corner; slowly turning her head to the left, she could see a patrol of six soldiers coming towards the alley where she was hiding. Taking a deep breath, she brought her right hand up to the waist of the tunic she wore - exactly to the place where a channeled cinquedea was hidden.

That weapon had been presented to her by her mentor six months ago, when she had finished training; a coat of arms decorated the blade. And not only for aesthetic reasons - this was also a reminder of the cause for which she and her brothers and sisters had fought since they had been rescued from certain death.

On the left side of the robe was a dagger that had been forged by her four days earlier, in the workshop, hours before her departure for the Royal City. It was a simple, unidentified weapon, which would come in handy, since if it worked, she would not bring that weapon back to her hiding place.

Hearing the patrol's approaching footsteps, she tried to cringe against a barrel that had been dropped into the alley and hold her breath, breathing as little as possible.

However, to her relief, the soldiers completely ignored the alley where she was and went ahead, resuming the patrol. Returning the channeled cinquedea to her belt, the girl raised her eyes slightly above the barrel and waited until the military turned the corner, heading to the next street to continue the patrol.

Seeing that the coast was clear, she stepped out from behind the barrel and looked back at the blue house where her target lived.

She stood there for five minutes, planning what she would do to enter her target's room; the maid she had bribed two days earlier had said that a soldier stood at the base of the staircase leading into the room during the night, but that same man, an eighteen-year-old recruit, wasn't exactly the sharpest weapon in the armory; as long as she did not make too much noise, he wouldn't notice.

With a ghastly smile, the girl looked around again to make sure there was no one else around; it was only then that she went toward the house. As soon as she approached one of the windows, she started climbing - which, after all she'd ever seen and done in training, was a piece of cake for her.

In fact, the house offered so many spaces to climb that it was surprising that no one had noticed that. However, considering that Arendelle had never had a group specialized in this type of action, such as the faction to which the girl belonged, it was not a complete surprise that the houses were designed to resist the invasion of an external enemy - not an internal.

This brought to her mind a lesson taught by her master - that the most dangerous enemy is the one most ignored by his antagonist.

Cautiously, she opened the window and raised her eyes enough to see if anyone was inside. And, indeed, there was someone.

A single person was asleep in the king-sized bed, not having the slightest clue that an intruder had invaded what should be his place of refuge. The girl narrowed her eyes and scanned the room before closing the window gently; she waited for a few seconds to make sure no one had heard the noise of wood against wood.

She took advantage of the space between the window and the bed to accustom her eyes to the darkness of the room as she walked to where - she hoped - her target would be.

Her heart missed a beat as she stared at the pale face of the man lying on his back, his gray hair scattered across his face - this was one of the soldiers who had participated in the massacre, who had disgraced not only her life, but also the lives of her countrymen.

He was one of the leaders among all the military men who had been in the village - the girl knew that he had retired from the army about three years ago, with the rank of colonel, shortly after his wife died in a domestic accident, which explained the half-occupied king-sized bed.

Her sons and daughters were already married and with their own lives, which was a relief to the intruder - there were fewer people who would wake up in case of any noise.

Feeling the anxiety invade her stomach, the girl knelt in the empty space on the bed, which gave way slightly; then she removed her dagger, followed by a piece of greenish cloth, and carefully rolled it into a ball, placing it near the old man's half-open mouth.

Raising the dagger above her head, she glanced one last time at the soldier, before striking the weapon at his heart while putting the cloth against the old man's mouth to prevent him from screaming - which proved to be correct, since he awoke immediately as he felt the blade of the dagger pierce his heart.

"Good evening, Colonel Lars Mikkelsen," the girl murmured, with a wicked smile. She found this night to be quite fun.

* * *

Undoubtedly, meeting his wife again, even in a dream, was a very good thing.

After all, three years had passed since his beloved Beru had died, for a rather simplistic reason: she had slipped on the last step of a ladder and fell downstairs, suffering several serious injuries - which ended up taking her life.

At that time, Lars was commanding a military training facility in the northern provinces of Arendelle - upon receiving the news, he decided to leave the army for good, even with appeals from his superiors to continue; he was considered one of the most respected military officers by the High Command, even though part of the lower patents harbored a certain mistrust of him for his involvement in one of the darkest episodes in the country's military history.

However, Beru's death made him realize that he had spent a long time away from his family - of course, he had participated in important events such as births, weddings, birthdays, etc.

But he had lost all the simpler moments of his family life.

And after 30 years in the rigid Arendelle Royal Army's military routine, he could not recover those lost moments - but he could enjoy the rest of his life as the father he had never been.

So what Lars imagined when he had retired from military life was that he still had, at least, twenty years to live with his sons and daughters and their respective spouses and children.

So in addition to the pain when he felt the blade of the dagger hit his heart, and the shock of feeling his mouth being muffled by a piece of cloth while trying to scream, he could only feel a huge disappointment.

He could not live with his family as he would like.

"Who... who are you?", murmured the old soldier, his voice muffled by the cloth, trying to breathe as he felt the blood invade his airways. With difficulty, Lars looked into the teal eyes hidden by the hood as his attacker removed the cloth from his mouth.

"I'm Aeris. The last person you'll see or hear in this world", growled Aeris, twisting the dagger and making the man's body squirm. He tried to scream, but the pain was such that he just could not find his voice.

Considering the thickness of the walls, he thought, it would not do much good.

"I wonder what your role was in that damn massacre", Aeris commented as she stared at the blood that painted the man's clothes in red. "Was it you who set the temple on fire with all those children locked up? Or were you one of the four bastards who tied the greengrocer to four horses and made them walk in opposite directions, quartering the poor man? Or... were you one of the bastards who disgraced my mother and sister before killing them?"

"I... I…" muttered the old Mikkelsen, weakly. "I don't…"

"I watched it all, you know?", the girl murmured, her voice trembling with hatred. "My mother put me in a trunk when she realized what was happening, but she could not save my little sister. And I watched as twelve soldiers 'had fun' with them, ignoring their screams. This before they were stabbed in the chest and dropped there, dying of bleeding with each heartbeat, pumping the blood out of the body. So I do what I do, to avenge their deaths."

"Please, I…" he tried to speak, before being interrupted by the hooded girl.

"And I will not settle down until every one of those responsible has paid the price, that includes your dear princess."

"The princess... she hasn't... it's not her fault. She was a child when that happened!", exclaimed the former soldier, coughing blood in the process.

"It may be, but your king is dead. And it wasn't by my hands. So she will pay in her father's place. The princess will die by my hands, but not today."

Leaving the bed, she took four pieces of rope from the tunic and tied his hands and feet to the bed firmly, making it impossible for him to escape. Then she took the green cloth again and tied it to Lars's mouth before looking into their eyes and muttering. "Like my mother and my sister, you will be there, with the dagger stuck in your heart, causing you to lose blood with each heartbeat. So I suggest you enjoy your last moments and confess your sins to whatever God you believe in... although I doubt that he or she will forgive you."

The old man tried to speak again, but the gag in his mouth drowned out whatever sound he tried to utter. With a satisfied smile, Aeris gave the soldier a mocking bow before turning to a mirror. Lowering her hood, and ignoring the colonel's increasingly choppy breath, she looked at a young face, which had witnessed only thirteen summers - and yet she had already been responsible for the deaths of five people involved in the massacre.

She knew that this was a life no one wanted or desired, and she doubted her father and brother would approve of what she was doing - yet she was sure that all this bloodshed was worth it, since every death of a soldier involved in the slaughter would avenge not only her mother and her sister, but every one of the inhabitants of Mylai who had been killed for no reason at all.

Besides, she had never seen her father and brother again - her mentor, as soon as he had rescued her, took her to a farm a few miles north of the village where she had been reunited with other survivors of the massacre. In a matter of days, they were all embarking on a rigorous training regimen, as their savior had offered them the chance to avenge their relatives and friends - an offer they had all accepted with great pleasure.

Indifferent to the old colonel's muffled gagging, Aeris moved a hand to one of her twin braids that came down over her shoulders; the blond-platinum lock that stood out from her strawberry-blond, almost red, hair, always attracted people's attention - one of the reasons why she always wore the hood on her missions, since she was easily recognizable if any witnesses saw the locks.

Tears rose in her eyes as she remembered her mother saying that these strands were a reflection of a past life - by all the gods, to this day she still couldn't comprehend the entirety of the pain that the absence of her mother and her little sister provoked.

Pain and anger - the latter, directed at people like Lars Mikkelsen, who continued writhe in agony in his bed, getting more bloodstained by the minute.

Taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from the freckled face, Aeris put the hood back on her head and walked towards the window, raising it once more. That's when she turned to the retired colonel for the last time. "Maybe I'll only know what happened to you the day I leave this world, too. But by then, I'll be happy, knowing that you also suffered before you died, even though it was only a fraction of what my mother and sister suffered."

And with that, Aeris left the Mikkelsen house, leaving behind a dying, bloody man; she only allowed herself to relax several minutes later when she was already on the street leading to one of the houses belonging to her mentor, one of the safe hiding places for her and her brothers and sisters. After entering the safe house ans sitting in one of the armchairs, Aeris lowered her hood once more and began to breathe slowly, letting the tension and adrenaline of the mission dissipate.

She still remembered the first time she had taken a life - she had come to the safe house completely destroyed inside, feeling horrible for killing a person. Her mentor, however, had helped her understand that yes, killing a person was never easy, and that it was never socially correct, but it was morally right - even more so if she remembered everything the military had done in Mylai five years earlier.

Gradually, and with the help of her master and her brothers and sisters, she had become an experienced assassin - increasingly ruthless in dealing with her targets. Today, the name of Aeris, which she had adopted upon entering the Brotherhood, was greatly feared in Arendelle's underworld. However, when she was not on missions, or even some activity related to her work, she attended by her birth name, which was known only in the group.

And by her father and brother.

As Aeris wiped away the tears that threatened to fall; she only prayed that one day she would find them. And that, even if they didn't agree with her profession, that they at least understood.

For they were her family. The people she loved the most. And whose opinions she valued even more than those of her mentor.

* * *

Seven days of absolute mourning had passed, Jason noted, as he packed up his luggage to leave the castle.

The day before, a funeral ceremony in honor of King Agdar and Queen Idunn had been held on top of a hill in the vicinity of the Royal City; although the bodies of the sovereigns had sunk with HMAS Vålerenga and all who were on board, two enormous stones had been erected on the hill with runic inscriptions describing the lives and deeds of the deceased monarchs.

As the last member of the Royal Family still alive, Elsa had attended the funeral, which had been conducted by a Nordic priest and attended by the nobles of the kingdom; Jason, for his part, had taken part in a tribute aboard the Sea Diamond, alongside Captain Rose and the passengers and crew on board the ship when Thomas Berget had been located.

The body of Arendelle's Royal Guard, in turn, had been veiled and buried with military honors the day after the hearing with the princess, at a ceremony attended by Jason and Rose, as well as Berget's relatives, friends and fellow soldiers.

Jason still remembered Berget's wife, holding the hand of a four-year-old girl with an incredible resemblance to the lieutenant-colonel, thanking him and Captain Rose for having rescued her husband's body and given the family the chance to to bid him farewell.

After putting the last change of clothes in his luggage, Jason looked at the leather bag with the purple Chaos Emerald; he had not had the chance to hand it over to the Princess since the hearing, because Elsa was too busy with the preparations for her parents' funeral, as well as Council meetings to elect a regent who would rule the country in partnership with young crown princess until she reached the age of 21, the minimum age established by law for the young woman to be crowned.

From what the exile learned, thanks to the castle's gossip network, the nobles had quarreled among themselves to take over the post, which would generate much influence and power during its existence - but Elsa had waited until the tempers were exalted to the maximum, each nobleman fighting for the name of his preference, before suggesting the name of Lord Chamberlain Kai as regent of Arendelle during his minority, as a name of consensus. Since, by now, the counselors were exhausted after so many quarrels and arguments, Kai's name was unanimously accepted.

Jason could not stop thinking, since he'd heard the news, in Elsa's cleverness; even in mourning for the death of her parents, she had manipulated the meeting subtly so that the name of her preference was chosen, since, because she was still a minor, she still did not have all the political powers.

Besides, it was always better to persuade the council to stay with her: after turning 21, Elsa could legislate on her own, but opposing her counselors explicitly could put her power at risk.

Having allies was what made the difference - but it was nothing Jason did not already know, knowing the power system in Westside and Soleanna was in the hands of just a few people.

Now, after a week of living in the castle, as he waited for the end of the funeral tributes and contacted the leaders of the Hunters' Guild to schedule his recruitment tests, which would be supervised by the guild leaders, Jason was ready to return to a more rustic, but more welcoming environment, just like the old Smith's family home.

Before that, however, he had to fulfill Lieutenant Berget's last request and deliver the Supreme Jewel to the princess. The white Chaos Emerald was stored in the bottom of his baggage, and he hoped it would be in his possession for a long time, for the good of the whole world.

A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts; putting his luggage over his right shoulder and adjusting his traveling tunic, so that it would not have any wrinkles before the audience, Jason stepped forward and opened the door, smiling at the woman in front of him. "Good morning, Mrs. Amundsen", greeted the blue-haired man.

"Good morning Mr. Smith, Her Highness asked me to accompany you to the Throne Room for the hearing", replied Gerda, who was wearing black robes this time, though she had a faint smile on her face. Jason nodded and started to walk beside the Chief Maid, who had assumed part of her husband's duties after he had been appointed Lord Regent.

In a matter of minutes, the exile was back in the Throne Room, where he had been a week before, accompanied by Kai and Rose; this time, however, the sea-wolf was not there - he had set sail late in the morning to Andalasia and Chu-Nan; the Lord Regent stood beside the princess (both of them wearing black clothes), talking to her; and Jason was accompanied by Gerda.

Upon seeing the pair, however, Elsa motioned for Kai to halt the conversation; as soon as Jason and Gerda bowed, the monarch began to speak. "Mr. Smith, I imagine that two matters of the previous hearing remained pending: his request for political asylum and the return of Arendelle's supreme jewel."

Jason raised his eyebrows, as he did not remember saying that he had the gem in the previous week's audience, but he understood everything by listening Kai clearing his throat; The Lord Regent had told everything to the monarch.

"Yes, it was delivered to me on the deck of the Sea Diamond by Thomas Berget, who asked me expressly to hand it over to you, Your Highness", Jason explained, taking the leather bag from the waistband of his tunic and extending it toward the throne.

Quickly, Kai took the bag and handed it to Elsa, who opened it to reveal the purple Chaos Emerald, which emitted a glow strong enough to illuminate the princess' face and highlight her icy-blue eyes.

"Mr. Smith, do you... do you know what this is?", asked the princess, with an indecipherable expression.

"Yes, Arendelle's supreme jewel... but I guess that's not the question being asked, am I right?" Elsa nodded, and Jason continued. "I had heard some legends during my childhood, but I only came to know that they were real in the year I was arrested in Westside …"

"So, I believe you understand if I ask you to keep it a secret? I know you are not an Arendellian citizen, but if you really intend to live in the country, I can make that request as your monarch… well, future monarch."

"Don't worry, Your Highness... I also have my reasons for keeping this secret", explained the blue-haired man. "Besides, it must be easier to present this stone as a supreme jewel than as a Chaos Emerald", he concluded, without a single reference to the white jewel that was carefully hidden in his luggage.

Jason had already decided that no one else could know that the stone was in his possession for safety reasons - this included the princess, even if she had an emerald of her own.

He was sure that only one other person knew that the emerald was in his possession, and he gave him shivers just thinking of his huge and fat figure: the Doctor.

 _"Now... we need to know how far your powers can go, Mr. Smith, and I think a little more energy can help... Get a load of this!"_

His right hand trembled slightly with the memory of the electrical shocks he had to endure in the Doctor's lab.

"Well, since the subject of the supreme jewel is settled, Mr. Smith", said Elsa, as she returned the stone to the leather bag. "Now we have only to discuss the issue of your political asylum."

* * *

Hours later, Jason was on his way to the Hunters' Guild, carrying his luggage over his shoulder, with the political asylum guaranteed.

In fact, for the rest of the audience, he had talked about the events of the last year, beginning with his life before the invasion (although he had left parts of it out, for reasons of force majeure), the conquest of Westside by the coalition between the Southern Isles and Weselton, how his parents and his sister had been taken as slaves to the Isles while he had been taken as a potential guinea pig for scientific experiments to the Doctor's laboratory and how he had escaped - leaving aside only the theft of the white Chaos Emerald.

This had been the most tense moment of the audience, especially when explaining that he had murdered, in cold blood, fifteen of Weselton's scientists and soldiers stationed in the laboratory for the Doctor's protection.

For a second, Elsa seemed tempted to immediately close the hearing and refuse the asylum, but Kai had stepped up and defended the young man.

"Your Highness, taking into account what Mr. Smith had just reported us, he was alone, fighting an entire detachment of soldiers and a group of scientists who had orders to kill any fugitive. He knew that if he did not act in self-defense, he would be dead by then, so do not be so hard on him. Remember what happened to Frederick. "

It was enough to make Elsa flinch and, with a shaky nod, allow Jason to continue his story. The exile continued to speak, although a part of his mind was curious to know more about this Frederick - nevertheless, a characteristic chill in his spine made it clear that this was not a subject to be treated at that moment.

At the end of the story, the princess and Lord Regent asked a few more questions before asking the green-eyed exile to go into the waiting room with Gerda as they talked about the application for political asylum.

For half an hour, Jason paced in circles, sweating from pure jitteriness despite the pleasant autumn weather, as the Chief Maid tried to calm him down. However, Jason could not relax because of the fear that the soon-to-be-sovereign would have him deported if she refused the asylum request - even with Gerda guaranteeing that, even if it wasn't accepted, she would hardly do so after listening about the poor treatment dispensed by Weselton and the Southern Isles to the Westsiders.

Still, Jason only relaxed after Elsa and Kai summoned him back to the Throne Room, where they finally announced that the application for political asylum had been accepted. After thanking the crown princess and the regent effusively, he had said goodbye to them and Gerda before leaving the castle and beginning the journey to the Hunter's Guild.

With the hood over his head to protect himself from the cold wind, Jason stopped a few times to ask people if he was on the right path to the guild - and indeed he was, since after a few minutes, he reached a reasonably large, two-storey house on the outskirts of the Royal City.

The place, Jason thought, really seemed to be suitable for the Hunters' Guild: the house was on a property large enough to house a training ground where a man and a woman were practicing archery. In addition, he had heard from Kai that the place had, in addition to the two visible levels, an underground floor where a meat store was located - it was there, in that chilly environment, that the hunting products were stored, protected from the sun and heat, to prevent them from rotting.

In addition, the man had learned that the second floor of the house contained separate dorms for men and women - most hunters did not have enough money to buy their own home, so they slept at the guild.

A man was sitting on the floor in front of the Guild House, packing a handful of arrows into a quiver; he seemed to be preparing to go out on a hunt. His face was square, young-looking, with no beard or mustache; and the short black hair only enhanced the appearance of the man.

Seeing Jason approaching the guild, the man stood up and walked toward him; The exile from Westside Island noticed how tall he was - he must have been at least six feet high. "How can I help?"

"Good morning, my name is Jason Ryan Smith, I... I came to carry out the tests to try to become a hunter", answered the exile. Raising an eyebrow, the stranger spoke. "Are you the guy from Westside?" Jason nodded. "My name is Marshall Eriksen, follow me, please."

The two moved silently through the guild, and Jason realizing that he was being watched by some of the hunters on the scene - at least, they were curious looks, a blessing compared to the suspicious (and even hostile) looks he had received in Westside as he tried to reach the port without attracting the attention of Weselton's guards.

As they reached a door, Marshall motioned for Jason to wait before knocking on it; a loud, slightly hoarse voice ordered the hunter to come in, which he did, leaving the exile waiting.

A few minutes later, Jason was inside the room, which was a boardroom; Marshall was standing beside him, while three people, two men and a woman, stood at a table, consulting a map. One of the men and the woman must be siblings, Jason thought, for they were very similar - brown-haired, oval faces, and blue eyes, though their expressions were quite different.

The man's was quite lively, with his eyes radiating almost childlike happiness, while the woman's was quite serious and focused, as well as showing a slight irritation with her brother (or at least Jason thought he was).

But the man who drew Jason's attention was the other man: he was tall, with no hair on his black head, an earring with inscriptions in the native tongue of the West Antilles on his right ear. His body was quite muscular, after years of sugarcane plantations, and then working as a hunter in Arendelle; his robes had several pockets, plus a sword on the right side of his waist, and a dagger on the left side. To top it off, the heavy military-style boots gave him a stately look.

That was Adéwalé, the leader of the Arendelle Hunters' Guild.

Looking up, Adéwalé saw Marshall and Jason on the other end of the table, waiting for their turn to be called. With a smile, the hunter commented. "I liked the hair. Maybe because I don't have any, but I always imagined having a mane like that, but yours... it's quite different, maybe because I've never seen anyone with blue hair."

"Er... thanks, I guess", Jason replied awkwardly. "My name is Jason Ryan Smith…"

"... the political exile who fled from Westside Island", interrupted Adéwalé, leaving the map aside. "Yes, kid, Kai was here the day before yesterday, and he summarized your life right after you set up your tests with us."

"And speaking of that... where's the hunter I talked to? Because, do not get me wrong, but he said he wanted to be present for the tests."

"And I am", answered the brown-haired man, stepping forward and startling Jason as he hugged him tightly. "This is Olaf Poulsen and, as everyone in the Guild already knows, he loves warm hugs, so do not be surprised if he decides to embrace you out of nowhere. A breath of fresh air amidst the strains of the hunts", explained Adéwalé, before making a mention for the woman to approach. "This is Kristine Poulsen, she's Olaf's cousin, and do not let that cute little face fool you, she's as beautiful as she's ruthless. One of the most ferocious hunters in the Guild".

Kristine held out a hand to Jason, who shook it firmly. "Welcome to the guild, Mr. Smith", she greeted him.

"Cousin, please, you don't have to be so formal, this isn't a ceremony", Olaf grunted, rolling his eyes.

"Little cousin, not everyone is as loose as you are, so I thank you if you'd let me be the wild animal of the family." Kristine replied mockingly.

Jason looked at the exchange of "amenities" between the two cousins with a longing look - there was no way he could not remember the discussions with his sister when they were younger.

He imagined, for the umpteenth time, how she would be.

And he stopped almost immediately, for all the scenarios that came to his mind were too horrible to think about.

"Before you ask, yes, they do it at least twice a day - it's one of the sources of amusement for the hunters", said Marshall, so softly that only the blue-haired man could hear while Olaf and Kristine continued to argue.

"Very well", Adéwalé commanded, causing the Poulsen cousins to shut up. "This conversation is great, but we have business to deal with. Marshall, Olaf, Kristine, take your seats at the table", ordered the ex-slave; as soon as the three hunters had done what they had been ordered, the Guild leader turned to Jason and commanded, formally. "Grant us your name, place of origin and purpose, aspirant."

Taking a breath, the blue-haired exile approached the table. "My name is Jason Ryan Smith, a citizen of Westside Island and a political exile in Arendelle, and I have an interest in joining the Hunters' Guild."

"What is the reason you wish to join the guild?", Adéwalé asked.

"Survival, sir. I learned how to hunt early on with my family, and now that I'm in a strange land, I need to survive somehow."

"Are you willing to join the guild and take it upon yourself as your family, to protect and defend your friends, guard the secrets of your leaders, and work to aid the prosperity of our class and Arendelle?"

"Yes."

"Are you willing to train every day to perfect your skills, so you can become a hunter worthy of the title?"

"Yes."

"And, finally, are you willing to fight on behalf of the class to defend our interests?"

"Yes", said Jason, for the last time.

With a smile, Adéwalé held out his hand. "Well, Mr. Smith... or rather, Jason, welcome to the Arendelle Hunters Guild."

* * *

 _Author's Note: Well, the first act is done, but not the prologue - it still has three more chapters. Anna was introduced in this chapter, even if you hadn't noticed her. But, I can say that a more attentive person will notice some distinguishing details in this chapter, so... read it again if necessary!_

 _In the next chapter, you will see what happens in the three years between the death of Elsa's parents and her coronation. Expect lots of different points of view!_

 _Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _Well, as you know, I love receiving feedback (as every writer does). So, if you would be so kind, please leave a review, it's what fuels me to continue with this story - knowing that you are reading and sending feedback about it. Thanks to guest and Rex for their reviews!_

 _See you next chapter!_


	5. (500) Days of Winter, Part 1

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 5 - (500) Days of Winter, Part 1**

 _Two weeks after the shipwreck_

"Very good, my young apprentice, you are mastering the bow and arrow much faster than all the apprentices who came before you", Adéwalé praised, after Jason's arrow embedded itself in the wood, just inches from the center of the target.

"Master, you only had three apprentices", said the blue-haired young man, raising an eyebrow. He still couldn't believe how fortunate he had been for Adéwalé to have been chosen to be his master and trainer in the Hunters' Guild.

"Precisely', confirmed the ex-slave, with a wry smile. Swallowing, Jason pulled another arrow from his quiver, before launching it at the next target; this was the first skill they were working on. According to his Master, this "lighter" part of the training would last for six months; only then, and only if the Guild leaders judged that the exile had really learned all that had been taught, would he receive permission to begin to accompany Adéwalé on hunting expeditions.

Even then, he would only go as an observer for four months, without permission to carry arms for the shadowing period. Then, he would begin to receive his weapons little by little, one every month, as he adjusted to the work pace of the hunters.

It was a routine of sheer patience, but Jason knew that, just as in hunting, it was also necessary to be patient in life to achieve his goals.

However, there was still one subject he needed to clarify with his master: his skill. After all, if he and Adéwalé were to have an apprentice-master relationship, Jason felt it was absolutely necessary to talk about this little detail.

But that was not something he wanted the whole Guild to know, at least, not yet.

"Master?" The young man called, causing Adéwalé to look away from the target at him.

"What happened, Jason?"

"There's something I need to tell you, as a matter of confidence."

* * *

 _Two months after the shipwreck_

"Your Highness?" A female voice called, accompanied by knocks on the door.

Elsa was already awake, looking through her bedroom window into the snow-covered town. "Gerda?"

"I have come to tell you that breakfast is ready, and that there is a council meeting still scheduled for this morning before the winter solstice celebrations, Your Highness."

"Okay, I'll just get ready and go", said the princess. The sound of footsteps moving away from the bedroom door confirmed that the Chief Maid had heard the queen and had probably left for the castle's dining hall. Quickly, Elsa moved away from the window and, channelling her power with all of her concentration, she turned the sweater into a green ice dress, with Arendelle's coat of arms embroidered on the upper left side of her dress.

Usually, she wore her ice blue dresses, but the green color was a tribute to her sister - her parents said green was her favorite color, and Elsa made a point of wearing that color on special occasions.

 _Anna._

Elsa found it difficult to contain a sob - even after thirteen years, she still suffered as she remembered that tragic night, especially since, for a while, she wondered if she had been responsible in any way for her sister's death, even with the Royal Doctor's autopsy indicating that she had suffered a brain hemorrhage due to the fall of one of the piles of snow that had been erected during what should have been an innocent play between the two sisters.

However, her parents insisted that everything had been a tragic accident that could not be avoided. Even if that were true, the princess could not stop her heart from bleeding a little more at every memory of her sister.

 _Elsa, you know there's nothing that can be done,_ said a little voice inside her mind. _The best you can do is live, and honor Anna's memory._

 _But if that is true_ , answered another voice, in a more somber tone, _why have you not been able to get rid of guilt? Is it because… you have your share of responsibility in her death?_ , asked the voice, causing a layer of frost to begin to spread through the room.

 _Stop this! Elsa, you know that's not true, Anna slipped from one of the piles of snow and hit her head on the ground! That was an accident, there was nothing to be done!_

 _Are you sure?_

"I AM!", shouted the princess, beginning to pace around the room - which was beginning to look like an iceberg. "She's dead, and it was an accident, so shut up! **Shut up!** _ **Shut the fuck up, for the love of all the gods!**_ "

The voices vanished from her head, and the ice scattered around the room began to recede. But not the terror the second voice had brought to the surface.

New knocks on the door were heard. "Your Highness, is everything alright?", asked a new voice, probably belonging to one of the royal guards posted to carry out the security of the future monarch. "We heard shouts, and we came to see if everything is alright."

"Yes, I'm fine", Elsa lied without hesitation. It was a little more than two-and-a-half years before she would take the throne, and being seen as a madwoman would not help her.

"Are you sure?", asked the guard, in a worried tone.

"Absolutely", replied the princess, quickly opening the bedroom door. When she saw the guard with whom she had spoken, Elsa decided to take on a more professional tone. "I'm going to breakfast, so make sure I'm protected."

"Your Highness, that is my duty."

"Yes, and I congratulate you on that, but on special days, like solstice ceremonies, your duty is twice as important, so… well, you know what to do, Corporal."

"Certainly, Your Highness."

Elsa nodded before turning and walking towards the dining room. However, she was not sure if she would have an appetite this morning.

Not when she could still hear the warring voices in her head.

* * *

 _Five months after the shipwreck_

"Where is she?", shouted one of the soldiers as he tried to contain the bleeding from his left arm as he ran through the deserted streets of the Royal City at dawn. "I'm going to gut that damn girl as soon as I give her a good lesson!"

"I know as much of her whereabouts as you do!", replied another soldier, sword in hand. "But, you'll have to restrain yourself. The princess and the regent want her alive!"

"May they be damned!", roared the first soldier. "That wretch almost ripped off my arm, and I want to end this bitch at once!", he added, moving on without realizing that the second soldier had stopped running.

With a mournful expression, the second soldier brought his hand to his waist. "Too bad I'll have to explain this shit, this isn't my best quality", he murmured, before pulling a throwing knife and tossing it at his companion. The first soldier fell to the ground seconds after the weapon penetrated his back, close to his heart. "But, if you take into account that the bitch must also have throwing knives, I just need to put the blame on her…"

From the top of a roof, watching the soldier begin to forge a crime scene to escape any suspicion, was Aeris.

Clad in her Daughter of Mylai's robes and with her head covered by its hood, she tried to catch her breath, knowing that her pursuers would never have imagined that she was anywhere near them.

Or, in this case, pursuer.

Half an hour earlier, Aeris had killed her eleventh target, a private at the time of the massacre - one who had been one of the most vicious men in the torturing of the Mylai residents.

Now he was a sergeant, and he lived in a barracks in Royal City's downtown - which had made his assassination a hundred times more difficult. Most of the previous targets had required her to invade their homes at night or, in some cases, take care of the subject discreetly in the middle of the street (nothing that a gift offered by her mentor, well affixed to her right wrist, couldn't help).

However, raiding a barracks was another story, so she had spent a week preparing a uniform to infiltrate the place - while setting up a hideout on one of the nearby roofs to guard her Daughter of Mylai's clothes.

Killing the bastard had been easy - just stealing the key of the male dormitory from one of the guards, entering the room and repeating the same ritual as on the other occasions, with a few changes. For example, the fact that there were at least thirty soldiers inside the dormitory forced her to gag him before stabbing him in the heart, and waiting for him to die before fleeing.

However, luck was not always on Aeris's side. As soon as she left the dormitory, she ran into two other soldiers, who had screamed in fury at the sight of bloodstains on her uniform; she quickly drew her sword and wounded one of her opponents in the arm, then ran full speed out the barracks before the military could realize what was happening.

However, this didn't prevent the soldiers she had met on the way out of the barracks from pursuing her. Before they reached her, however, Aeris had taken advantage of the chute from a residence, and taking off the hood that she had hidden under the helmet to use as support, used the chute to climb onto the roof, leaving the sight of the two soldiers.

Aeris restrained a curse when she realized that, coupled with the unwelcome attention her previous actions had attracted, this unexpected confrontation would put Arendelle's Armed Forces on full alert for the next few weeks.

The Princess and Lord Regent had already been warned by the military leaders about the wave of assassinations of active and reserve soldiers and officers in the last nine months, motivated by the Mylai incident - at least, that was what the brotherhood's spies had discovered.

The future queen's silence about the massacre had cemented Aeris' belief that, just as had happened with the late King Agdar, Princess Elsa also supported the men and women responsible for the bloodbath.

This only strengthened her determination to end the life of the monarch personally.

But, there were still many targets before that day arrived, and she would have to plan each of her next actions much more cautiously than usual. She had no doubt that her mentor would ask her to be accompanied in some cases, for her own safety. As much as she enjoyed working alone on these types of missions, she was willing to swallow her pride if it was a direct order from her master.

She could not deny anything to the man who had saved her life.

"Well, well, well, and I thought I was the only one who liked to run on the roofs at this time", commented a voice, making Aeris freeze with dread. Noticing her sudden fear, the voice chuckled before continuing. "Calm down, _piccola_ , I'm not a guard. In fact, they do not like me very much, so…"

Trying to relax - and failing miserably at it, Aeris turned around slowly. She saw a man in his forties with a yellow shirt, brown trousers and a hood of the same color, his violet eyes were analyzing her intensely. "Wh-who are you?', asked the female assassin, hating herself for being so nervous.

"They call me many things. Murderer. _Tagliagole_. Thief. But you… you may call me La Volpe."

Sometimes, Aeris forgot how the expatriate community in Arendelle was much larger than she remembered.

* * *

 _Seven months after the shipwreck_

"Papa, are you sure I shouldn't go with you to the Guild?", asked Kristoff as his father tidied his bag over the horse's saddle. With a smile, Jonas turned to his son.

"Of course, Kristoff, this trip is just to renew the contract with the hunters. And we also have to take an order of ice to the Royal City, since Captain Rose will be arriving in fifteen days. So, my son, I need you to stay here while I go to the Royal City."

Kristoff nodded before taking the sled to Sven; he wasn't used to harvesting ice alone, but it was important that his father get this contract, so they would have food guaranteed for the next few months.

"Then, I'm going to go visit our friends before going to work, Papa."

"Alright, my son, and tell Bulda and Cliff I said hello. Also send my apologies, but this work is essential.", replied Jonas, as he mounted his horse. "It's a six-day trip to the Royal City, so I should be back in twelve days, Kris. Good luck till then, and may the gods be with you!", said the ice harvester, before spurring his horse, down the snow-covered trail.

Kristoff watched his father ride away, disappearing into the horizon; only then, did he notice that a hot breath that was warming his neck.

He hadn't realized that Sven, sensing the mix of emotions in his friend, had come to him in an attempt to catch his eye and cheer him on, even though he knew the chances of it happening were very small. Since Jonas was his only living blood relative, Kristoff couldn't handle loneliness very well.

Even though his best friend was still there, keeping him company, Kristoff had already been through too much trauma to be able to properly deal with his father's travels - even if they were spaced out and often very brief.

Taking a deep breath, Kristoff went to grab a leather sack from the sled, and took out two carrots, which made Sven's eyes widen at once - the vegetable was their favorite food, which made Jonas make an agreement a few years ago with a farmer: in exchange for ice to preserve the meat of slaughtered cattle, a part of the carrot harvest would go to the Bjorgmans.

Grinning at the reindeer's eager expression, Kristoff threw a carrot into the air - which Sven quickly grabbed. Laughing as he watched his friend greedily chew on the carrot, the ice harvester bit his own carrot, trying to ward off the bad feelings that assaulted him when his father was away.

And the memories.

 _The day they saw a pillar of smoke from miles away, while they hewed a frozen lake..._

 _The moment of their return to Mylai, having had left a village full of life they were faced with a bunch of burning ruins and scattered bodies..._

 _The moment they had found the corpses of his mother and youngest sister, incinerated and stabbed, inert in a pool of dry, straggly blood..._

 _The day they had buried the bodies of his mother and sister, beginning their nomadic lives…_

"No, no, I can't... they wouldn't want this", Kristoff murmured, before biting the last piece of the carrot and drawing a worried look from Sven. Seeing his friend's expression, Kristoff swallowed the last piece and mounted the sled. "Come on, Sven, let's go to the valley... maybe Grand Pabbie have some advice for this."

Nodding his head, Sven began to run down the snowy road, opposite the direction Jonas had gone. Their destination was the Valley of Living Rocks where their friends lived - the "love experts".

Neither of them spoke during the one-hour trip through the snow-covered forest, which, unlike southern Arendelle, where the seasons were more defined, spent almost 90% of the year covered in ice and snow, thanks to the mountainous geography of the place, and the cold winds coming from the North Pole. Kristoff was too lost in his thoughts to make any sounds, and Sven was focused on the path, determined to reach the Valley as quickly as possible.

Kristoff was wrenched from his thoughts as he felt Sven slow down at the same time as the surrounding climate began to shift - looking back, it was still possible to see the snow-covered trees and ground, while all that the ice harvester could see ahead was a forest in full bloom, with trees full of leaves and the ground covered with grass and wildflowers.

If it was someone else, chances would be that he or she would be frightened by the sudden change of season; but Kristoff, Sven, and Jonas knew that it had to do with magic.

Upon reaching the clearing, Kristoff pulled on the reins and Sven stopped running. Dismounting from the sled, the blonde man saw dozens and dozens of stones scattered across the valley - or at least they looked like stones.

"Guys, I'm here!", cried Kristoff, smiling as the stones began to roll; in a short time, he was surrounded by countless small and extremely happy gray creatures, surrounding him as if he were a member of the family.

And, in fact, he was a member of this family, as were his father and Sven.

* * *

 _Ten months after the shipwreck_

"Milady? The correspondence has just arrived", announced a young woman in her early twenties, with black hair tied in a braid. She was holding a stack of letters in her tanned hands.

"Thank you, Francesca, you can put them on the table", said a young redheaded girl, in a simple white dress. She was sitting at a desk, scanning an official document with the aid of reading glasses.

Even as she read the document, she noticed Francesca putting the letters on a corner of the desk. However, when she saw that the other woman made no move to leave, she lifted her blue eyes, taking off her reading glasses. "What happened?"

Swallowing, Francesca held up a particular letter from the pile. "This letter, Lady Elise... it would be a common letter, milady, if it were not for the seal. We thought they were all in the hands of the Southern Isles, but it seems that is not the case…", murmured the woman, extending the letter to Elise.

The redhead's eyes widened as she recognized her uncle's family seal - the latest news she had had from them was that they had all been arrested when Westside Island had been conquered by the coalition between the Southern Isles and Weselton.

However, this letter was proof that, at least, one of them had escaped.

"Thank you, Francesca, thank you very much indeed. You may leave", commanded Elise, as she broke the seal on the letter. With a slight bow to her boss, Francesca turned and left the office as quietly as possible, trying not to bother her sovereign.

By the age of nineteen, Duchess Elise the Third, or simply Elise of Soleanna, had dealt with solitude more than she would have liked to admit.

Her mother had died when she was still very young, and the young woman had been raised by her father until a few years ago, when he too died, victim of an explosion that had partially destroyed the Kingdom Valley, where the old Royal Palace of Soleanna was located.

Elise herself had miraculously survived the tragedy, though no one knew how - the last thing she remembered was trying to reach out to her father, who was meeting with several scientists, in front of a strange machine that whistled endlessly and emitted lights which vibrated in a threatening way; then the machine had exploded and she had fainted, even with her father embracing her to protect her from the explosion.

Then, she remembered waking up at the Kingdom Valley's entrance, with her lucky charm at her feet, and the old palace in flames.

The damage had been so severe that the Kingdom Valley was declared a danger zone, and closed off from any access other than authorized personnel. The duchess was on this list of permits, but she only went to the old palace once a year to pay homage to her father and mother.

As she unfolded the parchment and put on her reading glasses again, Elise smiled as she recognized the code used in the correspondence. She had learned it from her father, and had taught her cousins when they had come to visit her, when they were still children.

After a few minutes of decoding the document, she began to read.

 _Dear Elise,_

 _I got it. I'm no longer a prisoner of Weselton, I fled the doctor's lab some time ago. Forgive me for not contacting you before, but I had to make sure that this letter could not be deciphered if it was intercepted._

 _I cannot say, at least for now, where I am - the old Anthony is still after me. Yes, Elise, I almost didn't believe it when I was taken to the lab Weselton built on Westside Island for him to do the experiments that your father - my uncle - had prevented him from doing during his reign._

 _And from what I could discern during the year I spent there, the duke spared neither money nor people to help him do his dirty work._

 _And the worst thing was finding out that Anthony acquired powers, although I don't know how - however, my body had to endure so many shocks during my imprisonment, that it is a miracle I didn't die._

 _Maybe I can credit it to my abilities, who knows?_

 _As for my survival, you can rest easy: I'm working, and I intend to stay in my current profession until our egghead friend is arrested or says goodbye to this planet; then I will be able to accept the invitation you had made in case anything happened to my family._

 _Not to mention that I still have great memories of my last visit to the palace..._

 _With love,_  
 _Mr. J_

Elise blushed heavily as she read the last line written by her cousin; in fact, she would never forget that week he and her sister had spent in the royal palace - and that they had had several moments which would have made her father tear his hair out in anger if he were still alive.

That had been a few weeks before the invasion - and she had been barred from invoking the treaty of cooperation between Soleanna and Westside, since the Southern Isles had resolved to use her uncles and her female cousin as a bargaining chip, threatening to kill them if the archipelago send military aid to the battered nation.

Her male cousin, in turn, had disappeared after the invasion, which had broken Elise's heart - she knew of his abilities, and feared that the coalition would use him as a guinea pig, which had actually been confirmed by him in the letter.

But, he had escaped, and he was now free. Of course, she didn't know where he was, nor did she know if she would see him again for a long time, but just the fact that he had escaped captivity was enough to make her want to shed tears of joy.

But, she stopped, remembering the words of her father, the late Duke of Soleanna. _Be a good girl, Elise. Remember, be brave. Don't cry, no matter what happens._

Instinctively, she reached for the necklace she wore, where a blue stone that emitted a faint glow rested.

A Chaos Emerald.

* * *

 _Twelve months after the shipwreck_

"I can't believe it's been a year, Elsa", murmured a short-haired brunette girl in a black dress, who held two small bouquets of yellow cornflowers in her hands. "By the gods, it seems like just yesterday, we were talking on your eighteenth birthday!"

"I know Punzie", murmured another girl, also dressed in black and with her red hair clumsily tied up in a bun; she held two bouquets with blue thistles. "Papa always said that Agdar and Idunn were the type of monarchs whom Mama wanted him to imitate, but... thankfully that was not the case. Even so, I have some memories with them, basically of social events where the three of us …"

"I know, Mer", muttered Elsa, who was holding two white crocus bouquets. "Papa and Mama were always complaining in public when we acted mischievously, but behind closed doors... they always had fun, especially when some grumpier nobleman was our target."

With this, the three girls advanced towards the immense rune stones that had been erected in honor of Agdar and Idunn - since no proper ceremony had been carried out, because their bodies were at the bottom of the ocean, the monuments had been erected on the top of a hill in the vicinity of the Royal City, with inscriptions that detailed the lives and the deeds of the deceased monarchs.

"Father, Mother, a year later, and the pain is still present", the princess murmured as she and the other two girls placed their bouquets at the foot of the rune stones. "I wonder if it'll ever disappear or at least lessen until it's bearable... I just hope that you've found Anna on the other side." Elsa struggled to contain a sob as she spoke her sister's name in a loud voice. "I've never... I've never felt so alone as when I learned what had happened to you... I thought I'd had the worst time of my life when I was five years old, but knowing that you also died made me realize that while you were by my side to comfort me when Anna died, I have no one else to be with me now…", she could not complete the sentence, being interrupted by a stronger sob.

Seeing that Elsa couldn't keep herself from sobbing, the brunette and the redhead came and held onto her before her knees gave way. The two girls looked at each other: if it weren't for the current situation, it would be unthinkable to see the ever so calm and composed Elsa - the Ice Queen not only for her powers but also for containing her feelings in public eyes - in such a deplorable state.

"Calm down, Els... Remember, we're here with you", murmured the brown-haired girl.

"Even if we can't be here every day, you know you can count on us for whatever comes along", said the redheaded girl, stroking the princess' shoulder.

"Thank you, Rapunzel, Merida... you don't know how much this means to me", muttered Elsa, her voice choked. "It's still two years before the coronation, and I have to suffer at least once a week when one of the counselors says I need to make my parents proud when I'm actually queen. That alone is enough to hurt me…"

"Because that's their goal", Merida replied, causing Elsa and Rapunzel to face her. "Of course they aren't going to easily accept the fact that you manipulated them not only in naming Kai as your Lord Regent, but also other occasions when you were able to impose your opinion over theirs."

"I agree", murmured Rapunzel. "Els, they know that this is still a painful affair for you, so they'll always bring this up to hurt you. It's the way they found to challenge you without being at risk of retaliation", added the Princess of Corona.

"I already know that, girls, but that doesn't change the fact that this subject is still too painful for me... does it stop hurting one day?", asked the princess, regaining control over her own legs.

Merida and Rapunzel didn't respond, simply because there was no good answer to that question.

"Come on", murmured the princess of DunBroch. "Gerda and Kai are waiting for us in the carriage to take us back to the castle."

Elsa nodded subconsciously as she looked at the bouquets deposited at the foot of the stones that marked the tombs of her parents - and for a simple tomb in the space between the monuments, where, below the dates of birth and death, the following words were inscribed:

 _Princess Anna of Arendelle  
Beloved daughter and sister  
"If there is any comfort in the death of someone we love, it is to know that the person is going to a place where there is no sadness, cruelty and pain."_

This was Elsa's greatest consolation: to know that her sister was in a better place than this world, where the rule was to the the worst possible people survive.

* * *

 _Fifteen months after the shipwreck_

"Very good, you're getting better and better, Aeris!", praised the 50-year-old instructor after the assassin blocked a blow with the wooden sword.

"Thank you, Master Baptiste, but I feel like I still have much to improve", she replied, turning her left foot before setting herself on guard.

"If I didn't know there is always room for improvement, I would say that's silly", said Baptiste, a black-skinned man with tight brown eyes - rumor had it that he had the ability to find hidden enemies through the walls of hiding places, which would explain the shape of his pupils, which resembled those of a snake. "But, I must say, at your age, I would have lost badly in a fight against you", continued the swordmaster, before striking another blow.

Aeris couldn't keep her cheeks from flushing with the praise - considering that Baptiste was one of her Mentor's most trusted men, a phrase like that coming from him was enough to unnerve anyone.

But luckily, not even a compliment could stop her from focusing on her training - and indeed, when she not only avoided Baptiste's attack but also turned her training sword over his to disarm him and strike his knees, knocking him to the ground when he least expected it, she could not help but smile - it was another victory for her resume.

"Wow", the instructor murmured, before accepting the outstretched hand of Aeris to rise from the clay floor. "May I be honest, Aeris?"

"Of course, Master."

"If you aren't elevated to the Brotherhood Council in the next five years, then I can say with 100% certainty that the Mentor is becoming senile", the man concluded as he attempted to remove the dirt from his robes.

Aeris let out a good-humored laugh at Baptiste's joke; she knew that the Mentor was far from being as senile as the old beggar who lived near her old house in Mylai, but the idea, though somewhat disrespectful to the man who had saved her life, was funny if she thought about it.

"Master, you jest", the girl replied, amused, before taking on a more serious expression. "Also, you know that for a new counselor to be elevated, it is necessary for a current member to die or be arrested, and I don't want that to happen to the Brotherhood."

"Okay, you're right, I'll take back what I said. But, I still think you'll get to the Council in no time, my girl. You're not only very talented with the sword, but also extremely intelligent", praised the swordsman, leaving Aeris even more flushed, if that was even possible. "You just need to be less clumsy outside of missions", he joked.

"Oh, please, Master, is it not possible for you to keep reminding me of the closet with all the Brotherhood's china which I overturned while trying to find the kitchen! All the brothers and sisters are already having fun at my expense because of it!", whined the assassin, making a little pout, causing Baptiste to suppress a laugh.

"The china locket, the mentor's favorite vessel, our blacksmith who was knocked out by your hood, no one knows how, the bed you broke when you threw yourself on it after a mission... the list is huge my girl, and I could be quoting examples for hours on end. "

Aeris only strengthened her pout, so the swordmaster could no longer hold back the laughter; after laughing until he ran out of breath, he said goodbye to her, going to another section of the farm, where he would train a group of novices.

The girl, in turn, would only have one more training lesson in two hours, so she had plenty of time to kill before the next activity.

Walking at a leisurely pace, with no destination in mind, she let her memories wander to a few days earlier, when, returning from an escort mission at the Royal City harbor from the Thieves' Guild - a partnership between the Guild and the Sons of Mylai began after the meeting of the assassin with the Guild's leader, La Volpe, on the roofs of the capital of Arendelle -, she saw, for the first time in years, her father and brother, in the distance.

She was not surprised to see that her father had aged quite a lot since the last time they had met, but she was shocked to see that her brother had turned out to be, practically a muscular bodybuilder.

The two were delivering some ice packs to a shop near the harbor, while Aeris was escorting a member of the Guild to one of the anchored ships, where a cargo of Chu-Nan's smuggled weapons waited to be disembarked.

She was sure that had she not been busy with her work, she would have gone out of her way to hug her father and her brother, even after more than six years away from them.

But, at the same time that the happy feeling had spread after seeing that they were alive and well, a twinge of self-contempt was staining the joy she had felt.

She was sure that if her father and brother knew what she had become - and worse, what she had done from the age of eight to fourteen! - they would disinherit her.

 _For_ , said a little voice in her brain, _who in his right mind would want to be from the same family as a girl who has killed more than twenty people, wounded so many people, and committed the most varied possible crimes, among them aggression, threat, extortion, loan sharking, fencing, etc.?_

The Sons of Mylai, which had emerged as a political organization, had expanded their range of actions since the beginning of their partnership with the Thieves' Guild, becoming one of the continent's largest criminal organizations in just ten months.

Aeris had doubts as to whether this was the right course for the Brotherhood to follow, but considering that she owed her life to her Mentor, and that, since the age of eight, her entire life had been linked to her brothers and sisters, she couldn't imagine what she would do if, one day, she decided to leave the group.

Moreover, the Sons of Mylai only released their members from the oath they had made if they had a good argument, to be accepted by the Council - and, furthermore, even if a person were allowed to leave the Brotherhood, he or she had a moral and professional obligation to help the group whenever possible.

 _One day, if I can talk to Papa and Kris, will they accept me? Will they ask me to leave the Brotherhood? And, if I accept their request, would the Council accept it?_

She wasn't sure she would want to find out the answers.

* * *

 _Eighteen months after the shipwreck_

"Help, somebody help me!", Kristoff shouted, holding onto his ax harder as he tried to keep a wolf pack away from his father who was injured and unconscious on the sled, as Sven tried to keep him warm, even in the midnight chill.

Trying not to panic from the growls, which approached in a threatening way towards the partially damaged sled, Kristoff cursed himself for the millionth time that night. Since half of the trouble that had brought him, Jonas, and Sven into this situation could easily have been avoided.

Starting with the decision to harvest ice for business and fish on the frozen lake near the North Mountain.

The idea had been presented to father and son by a colleague, who said he knew a lake in the far north of the country near Arendelle's main summit, where he had found, not only the best ice he had ever seen, but also the best fish.

Although the place was quite remote, the possibility of obtaining excellent ice and fish sounded very tempting, which made the Bjorgmans decide to make a trip to the North Mountain.

They had spent the day sawing out blocks of ice in the lake and depositing them on the sled. They then caught some fish at night to roast over a fire before they slept; they did not want to have to make the trip back to the Valley of the Living Rock in the middle of the night, since the probability of predators lurking in the forest was great.

Except that the predators had decided to leave the forest that night.

Jonas and Kristoff were asleep when the howls of the wolves woke them. They had quickly picked up their belongings and tossed them onto the sled, before getting in the vehicle and hitching up Sven, who had also woken up with the howls. They then fled away at full speed, being pursued by the wolves.

The problem was that the snow that had fallen during the day had covered the whole floor - and hidden some natural traps.

During the escape, the sled struck a sharp stone, flipping and throwing its two occupants away. Kristoff was fortunate enough not to hit anything other than snow, but Jonas had injured his arm when he hit some rocks hidden in the ice as he rolled on the ground.

Sven, who had stopped running when he felt the sled rise from the ground, ran to protect his best friend's father while Kristoff picked up an ax that had been thrown out of the vehicle before he positioned himself in front of the wolves, in a threatening way.

However, the blonde ice harvester knew that he couldn't keep predators away for long. The blood draining from Jonas' wound was leaving the wolves drawn by his prey.

"Help! Please, somebody!", Kristoff shouted, his voice hoarse from shouting for help.

Surprisingly, a new voice answered in a hurried tone. "Here, what happened?"

Feeling his hopes renewed, the ice harvester shrieked again in the direction from which the voice had come. "My father is wounded, and a pack of wolves is trying to attack him! I won't be able to hold them off for long!"

"I'll be right over!", answered the voice. In the next second, Kristoff couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A blue blur came out from near a huge pine tree and ran toward the pack, striking one of the wolves and throwing it against a tree with overwhelming force. Then, the blur jumped into the air before shooting itself like an arrow against two other animals, breaking their bones.

After landing on the ground, the blur revealed itself as a person, dressed as a hunter, with a dagger in his right hand and a sword at his waist, and a crossbow with a quiver of arrows behind him. Even with the hood, it was possible to see strands of royal-blue hair bathed in moonlight.

"Get your father and run, I'll take care of the rest of the pack!", shouted the hunter, before jumping and shooting himself into the air against another wolf, leaving a blue blur wherever he passed.

Kristoff didn't think twice; running to his father, he lifted and lay him on Sven's back, before mounting the reindeer. "Come on, Sven, now!"

"I'll catch up with you!", exclaimed the blue-haired man as he stabbed the dagger into the neck of a wolf trying to bite his arm.

Kristoff thanked the man internally, whoever he might be, though he didn't dare to look back. The most important thing, at the moment, was taking his father away from danger. Other things, such as the sled, ice-harvesting materials and clothing could be replaced or repaired.

Not a life.

Forty minutes later, Kristoff and Sven were in a glade, with Jonas lying on the snow and wrapped in his son's coats. His wounds were bound with what was left of the older Bjorgman's shirt. He was currently lying in front of a newly lit fire with some of branches the young man had collected shortly after arriving just five minutes ago.

"I only hope that he's managed to get rid of the wolves, Sven. That, and I want to thank him very much for saving my father's life", muttered the blonde, warming his hands by the flames.

 _"I hope so too, Kristoff. By the way, how did he do that? I mean, I've never seen anyone as fast as him"_ , "replied" the reindeer, with his "voice" provided by Kristoff.

"I don't know, but I know that if he hadn't appeared, we wouldn't be alive any more", concluded the young man, causing Sven to utter a nervous bleat.

 _"By the clothes, you can tell he's a hunter. Is he from the Guild, or does he work independently?"_ , asked Sven.

"I do not know, maybe I'll ask Olaf or Marshall when I meet them again."

"Or, you can ask now", replied the hunter, making Kristoff jump. "Sorry, I just got here", the man murmured, in a slightly guilty tone.

"No problem", said Kristoff, rising from the floor and holding out his hand to the man. "I wanted to say… thank you very much. If it wasn't for you, we would have turned into wolf food, starting with my father."

"You're welcome, my friend, I couldn't just let that happen", the hunter replied, squeezing Kristoff's hand as a smile spread across his scarred face. "I have some rabbit meat in my bag. Are you hungry?"

Kristoff's stomach answered him with a loud audible noise, causing the hunter to burst into laughter. "My name is Jason Ryan Smith, at your service."

"Kristoff Miles Bjorgman."

* * *

 _Author's note: This is the first part of "The 500 Days of Winter"... some new faces have appeared in this chapter. The main objective of "The 500 Days of Winter" is to show what happened during the three years between the sinking of the HMAS Vålerenga and the coronation._

 _It's interesting to know everything that can happen in almost 36 months, right? In the next chapter, we will learn more about these events which occurr during Kai's regency._

 _Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _Well, as you know, I love receiving reviews (as every writer does). So, if you would be so kind, please leave a review, it's what fuels me to continue with this story - knowing that you are reading and sending feedback about it. Thanks to the guests for their reviews!_

 _See you next chapter!_


	6. (500) Days of Winter, Part 2

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 6 - (500) Days of Winter, Part 2**

 _Twenty-one months after the shipwreck_

Elsa was sure that she would go crazy sooner or later, with the "quality" of some of the counselors she had inherited from her father.

Of course, she knew that dealing with a bunch of pampered nobles was to be expected, especially considering that they had been raised with the best of everything.

However, dealing with Army and Navy leaders was especially challenging.

Ever since the Sons of Mylai had initiated a series of murders of military members that had been involved in the village massacre almost seven years ago, representatives of the Armed Forces on the Royal Council had increased the pressure for the Princess and Lord Regent to take actions against the group.

This included, among others, the imposition of a curfew, the suspension of rights such as the freedom of assembly, association and expression, as well as granting legal immunity for soldiers who were engaged in the hunting of political criminals.

In practice, they wanted the Armed Forces to be above the law, causing both Elsa and Kai to double their workload to ensure that the Council did not support these absurd measures. At the moment, it was working, since only two Counselors had decided to support the military's petitions so far.

An absolute minority, so to speak.

However, every council meeting always had the same litany from the military chiefs, which was a guaranteed headache for the sovereign. "...both Admiral Qüisling and myself are in agreement, Your Highness, that the measures we are presenting are necessary to ensure law and order in Arendelle", explained a man wearing a green coat, decorated with various medals.

"What you are suggesting, General Terboven, and for the millionth time, might I add, is to transform our nation into a military dictatorship!", remarked a counselor, visibly annoyed that this matter had surfaced once again.

"That would be a temporary situation, Glücksburg!", argued another adviser, wearing a white coat, also with several medals affixed to his chest. "Only as long as the Sons of Mylai pose a threat!"

"We have the police for that! They are more than capable of dealing with this, Admiral, and just suggesting that the Army and Navy have police power is an offence to an institution that, for centuries, has helped to ensure the public safety of Arendelle!", replied a middle-aged woman in a red dress with green accents.

Looking disdainfully at Terboven, the female counselor continued her attack. "My father, may the Gods bless his soul, would be ashamed to know that his old college friend ever made a suggestion like that!"

Having met the late Colonel Ingsborg, who had headed the Royal Police, Elsa knew he would indeed have been mortified if he was at the council meeting instead of his daughter Marge.

Turning to the head of the table, where the princess and the Lord Regent stood, the general tried to appeal. "Your Highness, my Lord, this is a matter of national security. I'm sure your father…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!", Kai shouted, punching the table as a thin layer of snow began to fall in the council room. "General, you and the Admiral have already presented this proposal countless times, and it has been repeatedly rejected! So don't you dare appeal to the memory of King Agdar. That cheap trick is no longer working!"

"I endorse the Lord Regent's words", muttered Elsa, struggling to keep her emotions from taking her. "General, since you and the Admiral have decided that the country should become a Draconian State in the fight against an internal enemy, you have both disrespected this council over and over again. We remained quiet in respect of the institutions you represent, but no more."

"Your Highness, I…" began Admiral Quisling, being cut off by a glare from the princess.

"I suggest a motion of censure against General Josef Terboven and Admiral Vidkun Quisling for acts that speak for themselves."

"I endorse the motion, Your Highness", Kai said solemnly, before turning to the rest of the council. "All who are in favor of the motion, please raise your hands."

With the exception of four people, among them the two military men, all the councilors raised their hands. "So the motion is approved. General, Admiral, this is the first and only warning we will give you: further disrespect towards this council means the suspension of your posts for a period of three months. The penalties will be increased in repeated cases, and may ultimately lead to the cancellation of your mandates. So, I suggest that you think about what you're going to say the next time you decide to speak", Kai said, with a sharp look at Terboven and Quisling.

"Okay, now that this issue is settled, do we have any other issues to discuss?", Elsa questioned, regaining her composure and stopping the snow. Seeing that no one was talking, she spoke again. "I hereby declare this council session closed, and I invite you all to meet again next week at the same time and place. In case of emergencies, everyone already knows the protocol."

Elsa and Kai sat in their seats, watching the counselors rise from their respective seats. The princess kept her regal mask as Terboven and Quisling left, both with annoyed expressions - although, on the inside, she was feeling a great revulsion.

When the princess and himself were alone, Kai let out a heavy sigh and asked. "Permission to speak freely, Elsa?"

"Granted, Kai."

"They're still going to give us a lot of trouble." The blonde knew that her Lord Regent was referring to the two officers. "I wonder where your father's mind was when he picked Terboven and Quisling from the Army and Navy triple lists."

"And to think that it's still two years before their mandates come to an end... how is the High Command's cooptation operation, Kai?"

"Going as planned, Elsa." The princess smiled softly. It was rare to hear Kai and Gerda calling her by her first name. Regardless of how she considered them both as her adoptive parents, especially after the death of Agdar and Idunn. "Currently, five of the nine members are people linked to our current policy, and a sixth is about to retire in five months. As our Constitution allows the Council to name one of the names for the triple list, our spymaster suggested a name."

"And who would he be?"

"She, in this case. The Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy Lanni Strassman."

"She's the former treasure hunter, isn't she?", Elsa asked, raising an eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, she has a nickname... Rouge. Am I right, Kai?"

"That's right, Elsa. If I remember correctly, a cadet had told me that she used to come back from her travels with a lot of wounds and dry blood stains on her clothes, which earned her that nickname, since 'rouge', in French, means red."

Elsa nodded. "If she's trustworthy and believes in our current policy, we can consider her for High Command. Maybe we can ask for the Council to nominate her when Quisling leaves office two years from now?", Kai nodded, before rising and bidding farewell to Elsa, leaving the council room.

However, the princess wasn't even alone for two minutes before being interrupted by a series of knocks on the door. "Your Highness?" Gerda called from the other side. "Your teacher has arrived. He's waiting for you for today's lesson."

Elsa smiled. Five years ago, in addition to the traditional lessons for the Crown Princess, her father had decided to hire a fencing and self-defense teacher. At first she hadn't understood the reason, since her powers could take care of any fight.

But Agdar had explained that even if she had absolute control over snow and ice, it was good to have another way of defending herself, since an astute foe could develop techniques to face her without fear of her magic - such as surprise attacks, for example.

"Thank you, Gerda, tell Baptiste that I'm on my way."

* * *

 _Twenty-four months - two years - after the shipwreck_

"Bulda, thank you so much for the infusion, Gods know how much I need it", Jason said, putting a tinted bottle of blue liquid in his pocket.

Smiling, the female troll replied. "You're welcome, Jason. Any friend of my adopted son is a family member. And, you saved Jonas when he needed you most, so nothing's fairer than helping you out in times of need."

Jason smiled. When he had saved Kristoff, Sven, and Jonas from the wolves six months ago, he hadn't imagined that within less than two weeks, he would be invited to meet the family of his new friends.

The visit turned out to be a huge surprise, as the hunter discovered that the family that had adopted the Bjorgmans after Jonas' wife and daughters had died were rock trolls! After the shock - which almost made him panic - Jason had grown fond of the trolls, especially Bulda.

She had filled the hole that his mother, trapped somewhere dark in the Southern Isles, could not fill at that moment.

"Until you can go back to your mother, my boy, I will take care of you like only a mother can do", she had said, a few weeks after Jason's first visit to the Valley of Living Rock.

With Bulda acting like a mother, and the other trolls acting like a bunch of mischievous brothers, the hunter would have felt completely at home, were it not for a single detail...

Grand Pabbie.

Since he had come to the Valley for the first time with the Bjorgmans, the interactions with the troll leader had been minimal, with the maximum number of words being exchanged on the first encounter; since then, Jason had a strong feeling that Grand Pabbie was avoiding him out of dislike, something that Bulda, Kristoff and Jonas had been unable to dissuade.

However, while the old troll didn't talk to the blue-haired young man, he was always watching the hunter closely whenever possible, although he always left when he realized that Jason was aware of his presence.

And as soon as he felt a slight chill at the base of his spine, Jason turned to see that Pabbie was actually a reasonable distance from him and Bulda, watching their interaction with attentive eyes, assuming a thoughtful expression.

However, noticing that the hunter's attention was fixed on him, the troll assumed his rock form and rolled away from Jason's field of vision.

"Jason, my boy... it's not that he doesn't like you, he…", Bulda began hesitantly as she saw Jason's indecipherable expression.

"He what, Bulda?", asked the islander, not taking his eyes off the spot where Pabbie was. "Because, whenever I come, he not only makes a point of avoiding me, but also watches over me, as if I'm going to freak out and attack everyone in the Valley."

"He's like that, cryptic. Really, it's strange that he's not as receptive to you as he was to Kristoff, Jonas, and Sven, but that doesn't mean that he has anything against you…"

"I don't know if I can believe that, Bulda... I want to, but every time he behaves like that, I don't think he can ever open up to me", muttered the hunter, turning his eyes to the female troll. "I thought the looks of contempt of the soldiers in the Doctor's lab were already awful, but at least that was to be expected. The way Pabbie acts however... it hurts more, because it goes against everything I imagined about him."

Sensing Bulda's callused hands holding his left hand, Jason felt a lump in his throat - his mother did exactly the same thing when she felt that her son was going through a difficult time. "I just want him to understand that I'm not an enemy, Bulda. Is that too much to ask?"

Bulda swallowed hard before squeezing the hunter's hand affectionately. She didn't know what had happened to Pabbie for him to act this way about Jason, but the female troll was sure about one thing: she would find out the reason sooner or later.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Valley of the Living Rock, Pabbie was staring out at the stream's water, thinking of the hunter. He knew that Jason was hurt every time the troll leader acted the way he did - he had heard a lot of complaints from Bulda, Cliff, Kristoff, Jonas and several trolls - but he was sure it was best if things would continue like this for now.

"Are you sure of that, Pabbie?", muttered a disembodied voice, although the old troll knew who was speaking. "Because there's a chance that Jason will turn against you when he finds out why."

"Yes, Yen. I made that decision a long time ago, when he first came to me, asking for help to keep the princess's soul from being lost."

"You're aware you're talking about future Jason, not present Jason, aren't you?", the voice questioned doubtfully. "Present Jason still doesn't know the role he will play in the next few years."

"I know that, you don't have to remember me", Pabbie said irritably.

"Maybe I have, Grand Pabbie. You, as a shaman and the elder of the rock trolls, know how to predict the future, even though you have the habit of speaking by charades and parables. And you know how important Jason will be in the lives of thousands of people."

"Yen Sid, I don't talk to him, do you know why? Because I don't want to take the risk of saying something I shouldn't, especially after I witnessed the error that my other self has committed, as well as the consequences of those acts. I don't want to make the same mistakes!"

"Pabbie, if you really think you can avoid one mistake by committing another on, just as bad , then I have to wonder if you really learned from your other self's mistakes. Because that's not what it looks like!"

The old troll took a deep breath, trying to control the myriad of emotions in his mind - it was rare that he would lose control this way, especially if he took into account everything he had ever experienced in his life, and seen in his other lives.

"Yen Sid, I don't know if the consequences of my actions will be as expected, but I still believe that I am acting the right way."

Yen Sid's voice let out a sigh. "That's fine, but if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

Pabbie nodded, as he felt Yen Sid close the communication between them. The old troll knew that this stance would bring him many headaches in the future, but he didn't want to risk it. Not after seeing what the _other_ Pabbie had done.

 _"There is beauty in your magic... but also great danger. You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy."_

* * *

 _Twenty-seven months after the shipwreck_

Aeris was bored.

She had had a full day, taking care of several missions for the Sons of Mylai, and the desire to relax was so great that she had accepted without hesitation the offer of her brothers to go to a tavern in the Royal City's downtown, controlled by the Brotherhood, to drink a few (many) mugs of the best Westphalian beer.

However, after about two hours with beer, snacks, music and much fun, the female assassin was bored.

Her brothers and sisters also wouldn't stop telling raunchy stories to the customers of the tavern, while lively music filled the atmosphere without disturbing the conversation.

So, when she stood up and announced that she was leaving, and deposited a few gold coins on the table to pay her share of the bill, a murmur of surprise spread among the Sons of Mylai.

"But Aeris, the night is still just beginning!" Complained a male assassin, visibly intoxicated. "We haven't even taken our part of the wine cellar!"

"Thanks, but I want to go to the hideout to get some sleep."

"Are you sure? I heard the bartender kept some special chocolates for later…", muttered a girl in a rather conspiratorial voice before giggling.

Aeris felt saliva flood her mouth at the words - she knew it was a low blow to use chocolate to try to persuade her to stay, since it was her favorite "food". Everyone in the Brotherhood knew what she was capable of for a chocolate bar.

However, boredom spoke louder this time. "No", she replied, tearing a collective gasp of surprise. "Thank you for the offer, but I really want to sleep. Only the gods know what I went through today", explained the assassin as she moved her chair away from her brothers.

However, as she opened the tavern door and felt the rush of Arendelle's frosty winter wind, Aeris regretted that she hadn't brought a thicker coat - as the invitation to drink had been made at the last minute, she had only brought the same clothes she'd worn during the day when it was warmer.

However, since returning to the tavern and becoming the target of her brothers' jibes was out of the question, Aeris decided to return as quickly as possible to the hideout and slip under the covers.

Quickly, she climbed the tavern wall until she reached the roof, where she began to run as she felt the snowflakes crashing into her face. _At least, this is natural snow, not the artificial one caused by... by... by that witch_ , Aeris thought bitterly, as she always felt whenever the princess' name entered her mind.

 _Which was funny_ , thought the assassin, _because if I stop to think about it, I have no idea what she's like, I've never even seen her face._

In fact, considering that so few people had seen the heiress of the Crocus throne - _for some reason, she likes to keep an aura of mystery_ , she thought - it was difficult to think of the face of the person she hated most, since she didn't know who she really was.

 _Maybe I should get in touch with Baptiste, since he gives fencing lessons to her... Idiot, idiot, idiot, why have you never thought of that before?_ She thought as she assumed a grumpy expression - not only because of that, but also because the icy wind had reached the part of her face unprotected by the hood.

A cry in the distance, however, made her immediately forget what she was thinking about.

Quickly halting to change her course, the girl bolted in another direction, away from the hideout, but toward the place where the scream had come from.

Two minutes later, jumping from roof to roof, Aeris reached the exact spot, seeing something that left her stomach wrapped in rage: a hooded figure, seemingly female, leaning against the wall of an already closed shop, being surrounded by four thieves - recognized immediately as members of La Volpe's Thieves' Guild - with several flowers trampled and scattered on the floor.

Glancing quickly at her right wrist, she smiled to see that her Mentor's gift was there, ready to be used - and that would be very helpful, since she only had her channeled cinquedea attached to her waist.

Quickly, she looked at the group before taking a deep breath, running up the roof and jumping...

...to fall with the hidden blade stuck in the chest of one of the thieves, who fell with the shock at the same time as thread of blood began to spread through his chest.

"What the fuck…" began one of the thieves, confused; seeing the teal eyes under the hood, he exclaimed, frightened. "Damn it, it's _Aeris_!"

"You seem like bullies, you know?", snarled the female assassin, pulling out the channeled cinquedea with her left hand as she kept her right hand held out, the hidden blade ready to be used. "Trying to attack a poor flower girl?"

"We only wanted her money!", exclaimed another thief, who seemed to be about to pee his pants.

 _"Liars!"_ , exploded Aeris, even more furious. "Do you think I'm blind? That I didn't see you advancing on her with the expressions of hungry wolves?"

"Ah, damn it!", the third thief screamed, pulling out a dagger with a rather dirty blade before advancing to the girl... only to be cut down almost immediately by the cinquedea. After wiping the blood on the weapon onto the corpse's clothes, Aeris stared at the two surviving thieves with a ferocious expression. "Who's next?"

They didn't answer; instead, they turned and ran, screaming, while Aeris shouted "La Volpe will know what happened, you can wait!" It was only when the screams could no longer be heard that the strawberry-blonde-haired assassin turned to the flower girl, who was sitting on the floor, against the wall, breathing rapidly with her hand over her heart, still shaking after what had happened.

"Are you all right?" murmured Aeris, approaching carefully so as to not scare the girl. Seeing the assassin approaching, she shrank, making Aeris feel a pang of sadness in her heart. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, the men who wanted to hurt you all died or ran away. My name is…"

"Aeris", the girl murmured, in a melodious voice from her hooded face. "I already... I already heard your name. You're a Daughter of Mylai, aren't you?", asked the flower girl, slightly frightened.

"It seems to me that my fame precedes me", Aeris replied lightly, reaching out to help the young woman to rise from the soft snow. "Don't worry, I won't do you any harm. These monsters, however, had what they deserved", she added, looking at the corpses of thieves.

"Thank you", the girl murmured, rising and wiping away the snow that had stuck to her dress. Lifting her face slightly, she asked. "Aeris... that isn't your real name, is it?"

"No", confirmed the female assassin, looking into the flower girl's blue eyes - and feeling something inexplicable, but very good, running through her body. "We only use our baptismal names within the Brotherhood, outside of it we use codenames. I chose the name of Aeris when I entered, at the age of eight, after being rescued from Mylai", she explained.

"I see…", replied the flower girl, a little more calmly. "Can I... can I use a code name too?"

Aeris chuckled. "Interested in joining the Brotherhood?"

The saleswoman smiled, embarrassed. "Gods forbid, I don't know if I would have the stomach to do it", she said, pointing her eyes at the corpses.

"Okay, I know my profession is not for anyone. And yes, you can introduce yourself with a codename... any ideas in mind? "

The woman put her hand to her chin, thoughtfully, before answering. "Shelby".

"Nice to meet you, Shelby," said the young assassin, patting the flower girl's shoulder. "I imagine this is be the beginning of a beautiful friendship…"

"Who knows?", Shelby asked. "Are you hungry? I could pay you a cookie, but I lost my money during the attack…"

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it, and you'll make up for it on the next date."

"And will we have a next date, by any chance, Aeris?" Shelby asked, raising an eyebrow beneath the hood in amusement, which elicited a laugh from the assassin. "I may end up not liking this one, and not wanting to go on the second date."

"Rule # 1 of the first date: If you're invited to a date, you can't dislike the first date so you can have a second date and like it too."

The two girls burst out laughing at Aeris's joke. Apparently that really was the beginning of a beautiful friendship…

* * *

 _Thirty months after the shipwreck; Two months before the coronation_

April 9th - at least, this was the date that marked the calendar sheet on the desk of the personal office of the Princess of Arendelle.

However, Elsa's mind was focused on June 21.

On the 20th of the previous month, the young woman had reached the age of 21 - which, according to Arendelle's Constitution, allowed her to finally assume the Crocus Throne. Following the tradition established by her predecessors, the coronation ceremony had been scheduled for the nearest solstice, in which case, the date set was the summer solstice.

A slightly sad smile struck Elsa's face - she had no doubt that Anna, if she were alive, would be making a lot of puns with the fact that her older sister, the Snow Queen, would be crowned in the summer, making her laugh non-stop.

 _At least_ , the heiress thought, _now I can think of my little sister without losing control of my emotions. But... it took sixteen years to get to that point_ , she concluded, bittersweet.

Perhaps because of the fact that, three months earlier, she had met a new person in her life.

She had heard a lot from Kai and Gerda after coming back that night - not so much from the idea of walking the streets in disguise to see how their subjects lived from day-to-day, but by the fright she had had in being attacked by the four thieves before being rescued by a knight in shining armor.

Or, in this case, a Daughter of Mylai in robes.

Elsa was no fool, contrary to what many thought - she also knew the fame of Aeris, who had proven that night to be one of the most ruthless killers of the Brotherhood known as the Sons of Mylai.

For a second, she feared that the assassin would kill her, but she had been surprised by the girl - she could be fierce and even cruel, as far as they were concerned about her, but Elsa had discovered that this applied only to working moments.

Outside of it, Aeris was a sweet, adorable, and extremely clumsy young woman - the tumbles she had suffered during their stroll through the Royal City after tripping on her own legs were living proof of this. And, using the fake name that had come to mind, thanks to a book she had found in the library years earlier, Elsa had had a good time during the night and early morning.

Of course, Aeris didn't talk about her life in the Brotherhood - not that the princess was expecting it - or about the Mylai massacre - Elsa swore she would still have Terboven and Quisling's heads on a tray as she remembered this - but, she had opened herself enough to tell some stories about her life before the tragedy. Elsa had learned that she would be sixteen years old in a few months' time and was the daughter of an ice harvester and an artisan, and that she had an older brother and a younger sister, as well as being crazy about chocolate (a taste shared by the future monarch, by the way).

However, Aeris had divulged some information (apparently irrelevant) during the conversation that almost made Elsa choke on the pepperkaker the assassin had bought for her: the teenager was born on September 21.

Aeris had been born exactly the same day Anna had died.

Not only that, but she also had the same teal eyes as her sister.

Elsa had imagined for a second whether Aeris would have the same reddish-blond hair as Anna, and wondered to ask her to lower her hood, but decided at the last minute not to do so.

Because she was sure it was just a coincidence.

The next morning, Elsa had asked the director of the Royal Guard to arrange the files for Aeris, and she was answered almost immediately.

The princess had been frightened at reading her new friend's record: she was accused of joining an illegal organization, homicide, assault, threat, extortion, arms smuggling, fencing, mortgaging, among other crimes, as well as being a major suspect in the wave of murders of former and current military involved in the Mylai massacre.

However, her empathy with Aeris, as well as the lack of contact with people who were not the counselors or the staff of the castle, made Elsa decide to try her luck the following week, putting on the clothes of Shelby, the flower girl, and leaving to "sell flowers" in the Royal City.

Since Aeris was out of sight that night, the heiress decided to continue the search for the next two weeks - and was lucky on the final day. After explaining that she wasn't always in the Royal City, Aeris had suggested that they write each other, not only to schedule a meeting, but also to get to know each other.

Thinking quickly, Elsa had given her new friend the address of a mailbox, which had surprised Aeris - she had not imagined that a flower girl had so much money to buy such an item, since the mailboxes were extremely valuable. The princess, however, had explained that this was a family inheritance, which had been passed down through generations, until it reached her.

 _Not a lie_ , Elsa thought, as she turned her attention to the pile of letters at the corner of the table with the letter from Aeris at the top, _I was only a little vague so that she wouldn't find out who I am._

In fact, the mailbox was a property of the crown, although few people knew that. Usually, it was used by ambassadors, military leaders and provincial governors, and only in cases of urgency.

However, ever since Elsa had given the address of the mailbox to the female assassin, she received at least one letter a week from her friend, telling her about her life (at least that which didn't contain sensitive information about the Brotherhood), jokes, horror tales, advice, and even recipes involving chocolate!

On the other hand, the letters that the princess wrote were delivered to a tavern belonging to the Sons of Mylai, who passed the missives to the farm where the Brotherhood's headquarters were situated (although Elsa didn't know this).

 _No, I can't do that now_ , Elsa thought, looking away from the letters and returning to the plans Kai had sent with the details of the coronation ceremony and the ball that would be held shortly thereafter.

The difference was that Elsa had decided to give a special touch to the party... and it also made reference to her fame for being a shy person; not that she was shy - she was only discreet, and between one adjective and another there was a great difference.

 _Too bad I can't invite Aeris, I would love to keep a waltz to dance with her in my arms... What the hell?_ , Elsa shook her head violently, dismissing this unexpected idea as she blushed intensely. _Where did this come from, my gods?_

The answer was less than a meter away - in her heart, to be exact.

* * *

 _Author's note: Wow! Right? There will be one more chapter in this prologue before the main story begins. All the information from the first seven chapters are essential to understanding what happens in the subsequent chapters - and believe me, every word counts!_

 _So... next chapter, we will have the final set of events before the coronation... And I hope to leave your minds full of doubt, especially considering who will appear in the next chapter. Believe me, you're going to have a BIG surprise._

 _Thanks to all the readers who left reviews for Chapter 5, your words are the fuel that keeps me writing - every word, be it praise, criticism or a suggestion, is more than welcome. Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And thanks to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _See you next chapter!_


	7. The Ice Palace

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 7 - The Ice Palace**

 _Thirty-two months after the shipwreck; one week before the coronation_

"When you told me that the North Mountain was covered in an eternal winter, I thought you were exaggerating", Jason commented as he set a trap to catch rabbits.

They were on the North Mountain - halfway to the top, to be exact - in a hunt organized by the Guild to bolster the storehouse. Groups of four hunters each had been assembled and scattered throughout Arendelle, each with a specific animal to hunt. The Jason's group was trapping rabbits.

"Well, you just saw for yourself that it's not", replied Marshall, putting a piece of a carrot in his trap. "I just don't understand why Master Adéwalé asked Olaf to come with us, I mean... the boy wants to make snowmen rather than actually work, Kristine is fighting with him, and we have to play peacekeeper."

In fact, a few feet away, the Poulsen cousins were arguing in front of a partially constructed snowman.

Shaking his head, Jason commented in amusement. "Well, some day he's going to have to grow up... and make snowmen after work", concluded the hunter, tearing a chuckle from Marshall. "How are your traps?"

"There's only one more to assemble, and I already know where; see that stone there, Jason?", asked the older hunter, pointing to a rock formation near a precipice. The blue-haired young man nodded in acknowledgement. "I was thinking of placing it there, it might be worth it."

"I suppose so", Jason agreed, before he'd finished setting his trap. As he rose from the snow-covered ground however, he saw that the discussion between Olaf and Kristine was getting more and more heated.

Looking at the two traps still attached to his waist, and then to the Poulsen cousins and Marshall, he decided to take action before the situation went out of control. "Marshall, let's do this, I can see one of them about to slap the other, so... if you break it up, I'll prepare your last trap and mine as well, while you calm them down. What do you think?"

Marshall nodded. "Okay, just don't take too long", he agreed, handing over his last trap.

"Did you forget what I can do, you dolt?" said Jason, grinning.

"No silly, but thanks for the reminder", replied Marshall with another smile, before running through the fluffy snow to try to keep Kristine and Olaf from attacking each other.

Five minutes later, Jason was finishing up Marshall's last trap at his friend's spot when he noticed a whitish glow near his waist. As he looked down, he saw that the light was coming out of the exact spot where his white Chaos Emerald was.

"What will it be this time?", he whispered as he reached for the leather purse where the jewel was. Since he had been accepted into the Guild, Jason made a point of taking the stone wherever he went, afraid that it would disappear or be stolen.

Shining brightly, Jason felt the energy of the Chaos Emerald converge on a point behind him; as he turned, the man felt his jaw drop as he saw the energy forming an ice ladder, decorated with snowflakes and crocus flowers, which connected the platform where he stood to another, a few feet away and much higher than the first.

Cautiously, the islander removed one of the gloves he wore and touched the railing - the intense chill he felt was proof that it wasn't a hallucination. Not that he has had another vision like the one he'd experienced in the carriage a few years ago - but considering what the stones were capable of doing, even on their own, it was better to act with caution.

"Jason, what's this?", asked Kristine's voice behind him. The blue-haired man turned to see the huntress, accompanied by Marshall and Olaf, all three with their jaws wide open.

"A ladder, I imagine", he replied sarcastically. "But, responding to your real question, I don't know how it came about... I mean, I felt an energy coming out of the Chaos Emerald…"

"The stone you always carry when you go hunting?", Olaf asked, approaching the stairs with hesitant steps.

Jason nodded. "In short, the energy that came out of the jewel formed this ladder, and I touched it. It's ice, and it's _very real_."

"Can you… can you walk on that ice? I mean, I've had a bad experience with thin ice, and I don't want to repeat that, especially considering we're at least 160 feet high", said Marshall.

"No, I don't think it's thin ice, Marshmallow", replied Kristine, ignoring the hunter's irritation upon hearing his nickname. Placing one foot, and then the other, on the first step, she smiled when she saw that she was right. "Come on, this ice is strong enough!"

Slowly, the other hunters followed Kristine up the stairs, advancing at a slow pace, though the ice didn't snap even with their combined weights.

* * *

"Your Highness, we have received responses from all the foreign dignitaries", Kai announced, shortly after closing the door to Elsa's personal office.

"How many have confirmed their presence, Kai?", asked the blonde, not taking her eyes off the documents she had separated for analysis today.

"Almost all. However, three answers caught my attention... can I sit down?", asked the Lord Regent, pointing to a chair by the desk that faced the future monarch. After receiving a confirmation, Kai sat down and spread the three letters he had received on the desk.

"What happened exactly?"

"Well... usually, when there's a coronation, the foreign delegations send their heads of state with their respective spouses, and sometimes one of their children, right?" Seeing Elsa nodding, Kai continued, raising one of the letters. "Well... those three answers don't fit the pattern."

"And what are they?"

"The first unusual response came from Soleanna. Duchess Elise the Third confirmed her presence, but... she said that she'll be accompanied by her cousin and heir to the throne, the Count of Soleanna."

"Well, so far, I don't see anything unusual in that answer, Kai."

"I would have agreed with you if Lady Elise hadn't written that the Count has been living in Arendelle for three years", explained the Lord Chamberlain, making Elsa look up in surprise. "I have already asked Lady Ingsborg, responsible for the foreign affairs, to review the immigrant records of recent years, to verify any person who has taken up residence in our country from Soleanna."

"And?", she asked curiously. "Did we find out who it is?"

"No. The immigrant registry indicates that some people have moved here from Soleanna, but none have a direct relationship with their Royal Family". Elsa nodded; It wouldn't help to verify possible connections of immigrants with the nobility, since this title was used exclusively by the heir of the Eagle Throne.

"Keep checking, Kai, we may have missed some detail in all that information", Elsa asked. "Especially taking into account the theme of Gala, I don't want to be surprised."

"That will be done, Elsa", Kai assured her, before turning to the remaining letters. "The next two answers are from the Southern Isles and Weselton."

"Talk about the weasels first, Kai, the sooner we get rid of that headache, the better."

"Right, the duke and his wife confirmed their presence, both at the coronation and at the ball, but they asked to bring a third person with them: one of Weselton's advisers, a scientist. I don't know the reason for this request, but the duke made it clear that he wants to bring this special guest with him."

Elsa raised an eyebrow - usually only the head of state (or his representative) would come, accompanied by her spouse and one of her children. But as far as she knew, there was nothing to stop the duke from bringing a third person. However, she had to know who Weaselton wanted to bring, for safety reasons. "And who is he, Kai?"

The Lord Regent quickly summed up the scientist's life: single and childless, he had worked for years in Soleanna before returning to Weselton, where he had been born, to be part of the country's scientific team. Then, a few years ago, he had taken up a post in the Duchy's Council.

"Well, at first glance, he seems clean to me, Kai... but I doubt we can take him at face value", said the girl, seeing the grim expression of her Lord Chamberlain.

"No, during our research, we discovered something much worse about him, Your Highness…" Elsa felt a shiver; if Kai was using her title even behind closed doors, when he usually allowed himself to relax a little, it was because the subject was extremely serious.

And it was: when he finished his story, Elsa was horrified. "So... so it was _him_? _He_ was the bastard that tortured that man... Jason Ryan Smith, if I'm not mistaken... Anyways, _that damned scientist was directly responsible for Smith's captivity_?", the heiress questioned, outraged.

"Yes, and from what I heard... after Mr. Smith fled, he had sixty prisoners killed, four for each of the guards and scientists killed during the escape."

"My God... and I thought Weaselton was already evil, but his chief scientist proves to be even worse!"

"Anyways, Your Highness... how should we respond?", Kai asked, looking at the letter with the Weselton seal in his left hand. Elsa put her hand to her chin and assumed what she called the "thoughtful-queen position": on the one hand, she didn't want the mere presence of the weasel delegation after knowing the role they had after the conquest of Westside Island, on the other hand, an old Avalorian saying came to mind: _keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer_.

It might be interesting to meet the scientist during the coronation, especially to know what Weselton might be planning. But at the same time, she knew she would have to be especially cautious, since this particular man was unpredictable - the most dangerous kind of enemy you could possibly have.

"Kai, we're going to receive Weselton's full delegation, but... warn the guards to keep an eye on his every action." Kai nodded, understanding who Elsa was referring to. "From the moment he disembarks from their ship until the moment the weasel flag vanishes over the horizon, I want at least one guard to keep an eye on him."

"Alright, it'll be done Your Highness", Kai assured, placing Weselton's letter on the desk before lifting the last letter. "Finally, the Southern Isles' case... well, it is more delicate because it could generate a family feud. Let me explain it to you, Elsa", the Lord Regent hastened, when he saw that the princess ready to making a statement. "The king of the Southern Isles has decided not to come to the coronation, since he is on a scheduled visit to Westside 'province'..."

Elsa had to hold back an exasperated exclamation: everyone knew that Westside Island was far from being treated as a province, it was more like an exploited colony.

"...so he decided to send his youngest son, Prince Hans, accompanied by his wife, whom he was married to about eight months ago."

"Okay, Kai, so far so good: he won't come, and will send a representative with his spouse. How can that generate, as you said, 'a family feud'?"

Kai explained everything, making Elsa's eyes widen in pure surprise. This time she couldn't hold back an exclamation.

"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!"

* * *

"Wow", Kristine murmured, echoing the sentiment of the other hunters. "You know, I've been working for the Guild for ten years and I've been hunting in the North Mountain area for six years, but I've never, ever seen anything like that!"

Ahead of the quartet, was an icy staircase leading up to a massive (and gorgeous) ice palace at the peak of the North Mountain. Outside, the walls were blue, violet and pink, depending on the sunlight and the angle of the building, but what attracted the most attention were the snowflakes that decorated them.

"Who lives there?" Olaf asked, his eyes wide. "I mean, we're already in one of the coldest places on the planet, and then, inside there…"

"Better question, who built it?" Jason asked, still holding the leather bag with the Chaos Emerald. "As far as I know, the only person I know of who could build a palace like this is Princess Elsa, and she already has her castle. So, I imagine we can scratch her name off the list of suspects."

"Shall we go in?" Kristine suggested, heading for the palace gate. "Maybe the answers to your questions are in there."

Marshall, Olaf, and Jason nodded. However, they hadn't taken ten steps when the Emerald flared up blindingly.

This time, however, the exile realized that they were still on the North Mountain, wearing the same clothes - a very different situation from the last time he had been blinded by a flash.

"Guys, where are you?" Marshall's voice asked in the middle of the flash. Jason blinked, trying to brush away the whiteness in his vision. "Can anyone see anything?"

"No, I can't," replied Olaf. However, before anyone else could answer, a new voice sounded in the middle of the flash. A grave voice, urgent, which was immediately recognized.

" _Kristoff_?", Jason asked, not believing what he was hearing. "What is he doing here, by all the gods?"

At that moment, the whiteness finally dissipated, allowing the four hunters to see what was happening: they were still outside the ice palace, but they were no longer alone.

There were two snowmen at the entrance to the palace - one of them small, with sticks in place of arms and a carrot nose, and another huge and scary, with claws of ice where their hands should be. The big snowman was holding the little snowman in one hand, and in the other was...

"Kristoff? Princess Anna?", asked Jason, surprised. Kristine and Olaf stared at him as if he had lost his sanity.

"Jason, are you crazy? The princess died more than a decade ago!" Marshall complained, looking at his friend as if a second head had appeared on him.

"Calm down big guy, this isn't the first time I've seen the adult version of the princess. Or, at least how she would be if she were still alive", replied the islander. "However, I didn't expect Kristoff to be here."

" _Stop, put us down_!", complained the princess, struggling in the huge hand of the big snowman.

"Jason, can't you do something?" Kristine asked, staring at the scene with a terrified expression.

"You took the words right out of my mouth", replied the young man; he immediately released his power and ran towards the snow monster before jumping and performing his standard attack, which he called a Homing Attack: he aimed at the target and released his super-speed to attack the enemy, like an arrow against a wooden target.

To his surprise, however, instead of hitting the snowman's head as he expected, he simply went straight through, tumbling face-first into the snow at the same time as the smaller snowman, Anna and Kristoff were thrown onto the bridge.

" _ **Go away!**_ ", roared the monster, opening his huge mouth as he bellowed the order.

The "deceased" princess and the ice harvester slid down the ice steps toward a reindeer, whose tongue was stuck on an ice railing - Jason realized that this was Sven (he couldn't imagine his friend with another animal other than the reindeer who had been with him since childhood) - then, the voice of the smallest snowman (whom the exile found strangely familiar) made itself heard again. " _Heads up_!"

Kristine let out a scream as she saw the snowman's head land less than two feet from where she was.

" _Olaf!_ " Anna shouted, causing the brown-haired hunter to turn toward the princess, confused. However, the one who answered was the snowman - or rather, his head. " _Watch out for my butt!_ " He shouted, causing Kristine to retreat a few paces away.

"Hell, the snowman has the same name as you, Olaf!", exclaimed Marshall, stunned, as Anna and Kristoff ducked to avoid being hit by the rest of the other Olaf's body.

As the monster turned to enter the castle, Anna grabbed a handful of snow as she rose and stepped forward. " _It is not nice to throw people!_ ", screamed the angry princess, being held back by Kristoff, who was trying to pull her back.

" _Woah woah woah feisty pants. Okay, relax. Just calm down. Calm down._ ", said the ice harvester, as he felt Anna struggle with him, furious.

" _Okay, alright I'm okay."_ grumbled Anna.

" _Just let the snowman be."_ continued Kristoff.

" _Okay, I'm calm_ ", she murmured, breathing deeply as she let her body relax.

However, as soon as Kristoff released the princess, she spun back around. _"Oh come on."_ muttered Kristoff.

Before anyone could stop her, Anna threw the ball in the direction of the snow monster - it crashed on his back, doing no harm, barely even making sound.

For a moment Jason thought that the monster would ignore the attack, but then he saw that he was mistaken. He felt his famous shiver go down his spine just as the snowman turned, giving a terrifying roar as frost thorns sprang up on it's back and sides, making him even more threatening.

" _See, now you made him mad"_ , Kristoff said, nervous, as Marshall, Olaf and Kristine's eyes widened.

"What are you waiting for, RUN!", shouted the blue-haired man to his friends, who fled at the same time as Anna and Kristoff ran to one side and Sven to another, followed by the body of the other Olaf - his head was still on the floor, trying to catch the attention of the others.

The hunters, however, ignored the situation and continued to run as fast as they could (or in Jason's case, as fast as he could without leaving his friends behind) down the mountain, without looking back, until they reached the ice ladder that connected the two platforms of the North Mountain.

Jason hesitated at the sight of the stairs; looking sideways at the Chaos Emerald that was still inside his leather bag. He saw that it continued to shine brightly.

"Jason, you idiot, what are you waiting for? I don't want to be that monster's dinner!", shouted an angry Kristine, seeing her friend slow down before stopping completely, two steps away from the ice ladder. Behind her, Olaf and Marshall chorused in agreement.

"What if... what if this is an illusion?", he asked, quite suspicious.

"It brought us up here, didn't it?" Olaf asked, trying to contain his anxiety. "So let's get down before that thing decides to get us!"

As if responding to the hunter, a new roar echoed through the North Mountain; it was then that Jason had an idea. "Marshall, hold onto me, I'll take you to the other side of the mountain."

"Jason, you... are you sure?", asked the eldest of the hunters. Jason nodded, which made Marshall let out a resigned sigh and hug his friend tightly. "Are you ready?", asked the exile; as soon as his friend nodded, he released his powers and began to running up the stairs, holding Marshall firmly until they reached the other platform.

However, all Kristine and Olaf saw was a blue blur running down the stairs, reaching the other platform in four seconds. After placing the hunter safely in the snow, near a conifer tree, Jason spun around before dashing up the ladder once more at full speed.

"Remind me never to race against you, Jason", commented the youngest of the Poulsen cousins as the blue-haired hunter reached the highest platform of the mountain.

"Olaf, this is no time for jokes!" Kristine scowled, glaring at the cousin.

"Stop it, both of you!", exclaimed Jason, before turning to his colleague. "Olaf, you come with me!" The man nodded, hugging the exile before he ran off the ice ladder, crossing it in even less time: three seconds.

"Stay here, I'll get Kristine and be back soon", Jason said, before resuming the process; in less than ten seconds, the quartet's huntress was reunited with her cousin and two friends, the four of them completely out of breath after the strange adventure at the ice palace - and they were still not sure it had been real.

The presence of a princess who, as far as they all knew, had died sixteen years ago, was the main reason for this questioning.

"And now what do we do?", Kristine asked, looking at her three colleagues. However, before any of them could respond, the Chaos Emerald released a new flash, blinding them all once more.

When the white light dissipated, the ice ladder was gone.

It was as if it had never existed.

* * *

The next day, the quartet was in a Hunters' Guild hut, sitting on a thick rug, facing a burning fire, all in complete silence.

After the ladder had disappeared, leaving them all even more confused, the hunters decided to check the traps they had set up - and, to their relief, several rabbits had been captured, which not only helped supply the needs of the Guild for the coming weeks (they had completely ruled out the possibility of the other groups failing in their goals), but could also be sold should an order be placed.

The trip to the hut, however, had been done in silence - all of them were, without a doubt, shaken up with the surreal experience on the North Mountain. Even the irreverent and playful Olaf had not spoken a word during the trip - and Jason didn't blame him: to find a snowman not only with his name, but also with his personality, must have been disconcerting, to say the least.

Even after they had arrived at the hut, the hunters had spoken as little as necessary during the hours they were there - now, they were awaiting the arrival of Adéwalé, who had said before the hunt that, on his return, he would take Sven on loan from Kristoff to take the quartet back to the Royal City of Arendelle as well as the rabbits that had been skinned and had their skins, flesh and bones cleaned, treated and preserved in a snow-lined wrapping.

"Guys", Kristine began, breaking the silence. "What was that?"

"A vision, I think", Jason replied, slightly uncertain. "I... I just don't understand, because the first time this happened, I could interfere with what was happening, I mean, I almost killed a man at that time, and this time..."

"Yeah, we all saw you 'crossing' the snow monster," Marshall replied, making air quotes, "and face-planting in the snow."

"Perhaps what you saw on that occasion was another dimension, Jason, there are some religions that believe in multiverses, with 'copies' of each of us, with different lives, families, friends and lovers in relation to other universes."

"Maybe Kristine, but if... if what I saw three years ago was another dimension, then what did we see yesterday? I mean, I know this was the work of the Chaos Emerald, we all saw how it was shining, but... I don't know, there must have been something different about three years ago!", exclaimed Jason, frustrated.

Marshall and Kristine didn't respond, while Olaf remained mute, still with a thoughtful expression. Jason looked at the leather-bound jewelry bag that was on the waist of the hunter's outfit he wore - it was "quiet," without shining, though that did not leave the green-eyed man restful.

Trying to recall the information he had learned during his imprisonment, the exile recalled a phrase spoken by the Doctor during one of the "sessions."

" _They have had other names throughout history, Mr. Smith: they have already been called, for example, 'Infinity Gems', for no one knows how much power a single stone like this is capable of storing. However, as you gather the stones, potential power grows on a geometric scale…_ "

Would it be that? Could a single Chaos Emerald be capable of such power?

" _According to legend, uniting the seven Emeralds can release a power capable of rivaling divine powers, capable of turning any thought into reality. Whoever has possession of the seven jewels, can literally change the world._ "

"You said…", Olaf began, causing Jason, Kristine, and Marshall to turn to him. "You said you were on your way to the castle when you had the first vision, didn't you?" The blue-haired hunter nodded. "Perhaps you had something on that occasion that you didn't have today, or the other way round, you didn't have something that time which you do now?"

The young man pondered the question: it was quite possible that his friend was right. However, in trying to remember everything that had happened upon his arrival at Arendelle, Jason realized that, after three years, he couldn't remember all the details.

Okay, he remembered the main facts, like the trip, the rescue of Thomas Berget, the vision on the way to the castle, the audience and the arrival of the Hunters' Guild, but remember the details... he wasn't Marshall or Adéwalé, who had elephant's memories.

"I don't know, I'm trying to remember, but I can't", he complained.

It was at that moment that Adéwalé's voice was heard outside the hut, startling the hunters. "Ooooooo, we've arrived, Sven!", exclaimed the Guild leader, seconds before opening the door of the hut and seeing the frightened expressions of his commanders and his pupil. Raising an eyebrow, he asked as he entered, leaving Sven outside. "Did something happen while you were here?"

The four young hunters looked at each other, and Marshall cleared his throat before answering in embarrassment. "Master, even if we explained in detail what happened, you'd think we downed a barrel of wine or beer last night."

"Wow, was it that fantastic?", Adéwalé asked in a tone of surprise and amusement.

"Understatement of the millennium", Kristine replied, leaving the leader intrigued. "Please, master, don't even ask, this story is worthy of a fairy tale."

"Okay, if you say so…" muttered the black man, before rummaging in his tunic pocket, pulling out two sealed scrolls of parchment. "Before I forget... Jason, two letters arrived in the Guild before I left to fetch you and your friends. One is for me, and the other is for you."

The blue-haired man's eyes widened at the roll of parchment sealed with the crocus seal. "Master, is that what I think it is?"

Adéwalé smiled. "That's right, you were invited to Queen Elsa's coronation ball."

* * *

 _Author's note: So that's it...the prologue to Ice Blue Blur: Open Your Heart has finally come to an end. In the next chapter, we will have the first part of Elsa's coronation. You can expect lots of partying, food, new characters... and even the revelation of a few secrets._

 _As for this chapter... Can you possibly blame Olaf for the shock he had? Also, the incident with the ice palace may have seemed rather random, but it will be explained further on. On the other hand, we were learned a little more about Jason's powers - I believe that even if there were still any questions as to which character he was based on, there's no longer any doubt._

 _And I'll give you another hint: the character's name was created from the union of the names of the voice actors for the character on which Jason was based._

 _Thanks to all the readers who left reviews for Chapter 6, your words are the fuel that keeps me writing - every word, be it praise, criticism or a suggestion, is more than welcome and necessary. Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And thanks to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _See you next chapter!_


	8. Masquerade

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 8 - Masquerade**

 _ **Masquerade! Paper faces on parade...  
Masquerade! Hide your face,  
so the world will never find you!**_

 _(The Phantom of the Opera's Masquerade)_

Today was a feast day in the Royal City of Arendelle.

After almost three years after the deaths of King Agdar and Queen Idunn in the wreck of HMAS Vålerenga and with the smooth transition under Lord Regent Kai, the day of Princess Elsa's coronation as queen of Arendelle had finally arrived.

The several streamers with the outline of the new monarch on the crocus flower adorned the city, and tents had been set up in the streets to sell memorabilia of the event. The streets had been cleaned more intensely recently and security had been reinforced, especially with the recent actions of the Sons of Mylai.

However, not even this detail was taking away from the excitement of the residents of the Royal City and the foreigners who had come to attend the coronation.

"They say she's as beautiful as a goddess."

"Not only beautiful, but powerful - with the powers she has, I have no doubt that she could summon an eternal winter on Earth if she wants to."

"What is she planning for the country?"

"From what I've heard about her, she's got a much more liberal view than her father."

"Considering the origins of her mother, it comes as no surprise - they say that Idunn was raised in a much less restrictive environment than the late King Agdar."

"It's said that Terboven and Quisling, regardless of their standings as heroes, wet their pants with fear when she raises her voice at Council meetings."

"It wouldn't surprise me if she got rid of them in the next few days."

In the castle, the servants were finishing their last-minute adjustments - particularly in the chapel and the ballroom, where the coronation and the ball were to be held respectively, and the latter would have an unprecedented and special touch.

For the first time in forever, a masquerade ball would be held.

The idea had come from Elsa herself, who wanted to play on her shy and withdrawn reputation and make everyone hide behind their masks - she herself would have her own mask for the ball, along with a dress she had ordered for the occasion.

For the coronation however, she would wear an ice dress, made with her powers and with some special touches to reflect the special moment - such as a small coat of arms with the effigies of her parents and Anna beside the crocus.

However, until the time for the ceremony came, all the princess could do was wait in her room, resting as much as possible, especially after she had returned at a ridiculous hour in the middle of the night - it was all Aeris's fault, of course.

 _"What about the coronation, are you excited, Shelby?", the assassin asked, before taking a sip of beer - they were seated at a table in the tavern that belonged to the Sons of Mylai._

 _Needless to say, Elsa was (again) in the clothes of a flower girl._

 _"More or less, I imagine that I will run out of flowers in my store the day after tomorrow, but... I don't know, that atmosphere, the party, the music and the chocolate... Wow, the wish to go is enormous, Aeris, but I think I'll have only to imagine it, unfortunately."_

 _"I understand that feeling, it also makes me want to go - especially for chocolate," replied the girl, with a mischievous smile on her freckled face. "But... considering who's going to be crowned, I don't know if I'm all that excited", Aeris murmured, with a spark of disdain in her teal eyes._

 _Elsa sighed before finishing her beer. As soon as she swallowed the drink, a question struck her. "Aeris, isn't it..." began the "flower girl," in a hesitant tone._

 _Patting her friend's shoulder, the assassin said. "Shelby, you can ask me anything, you know that."_

 _Swallowing, Elsa said what was on her mind. "Aeris, isn't it unfair for you to blame the princess for everything that happened? I mean, she would have been about thirteen when the Mylai massacre happened, and the ruler of the country at the time was her father, King Agdar."_

 _As much as she didn't want to talk about her father in this way, Elsa could not avoid the slight disappointment she had felt in analyzing, together with Kai, the list of laws and decrees issued during Agdar's rule. She had discovered unthinkable things which made her stomach squirm in disgust, especially in regards to the privileges granted to the military._

 _Aeris swallowed nervously. "Shelby... Shel, I understand that she was a child when it all happened, you know... but, but... the army responds directly to the king, and all of Arendelle knows what he did to try to sweep the dirt under the rug in relation to Mylai... and, like it or not, the princess, she... she's the daughter of that bastard, so the army will now answer to her."_

 _"Yes, but she's only going to run the Armed Forces starting tomorrow, so... think about it, please, how could she be to blame for something she had no responsibility for?", insisted Elsa, trying to see if her friend could change her view of her._

 _"It may even be so, Shel, but... when I think of the princess, growing up with servants, maids and valets, with all that gold can buy, and having parents who loved her... and then when I think about how I was forced to grow up alone... with my mother and sister killed in the massacre, and without contact with my father and brother since eight years ago... "_

 _"Do you have any living relatives?" Elsa asked in surprise - in those five months, her hooded friend had never mentioned them, which gave the princess the feeling that Aeris was completely orphaned._

 _"Yes", the assassin replied, sniffling. "My father and brother had gone out to work, they're ice harvesters... and they were out of Mylai when the massacre occurred... I've never spoken to them since that time."_

 _"You never spoke to them again? I thought you wouldn't have seen them since then", commented the blonde, with an uncomfortable feeling deep in her stomach._

 _"I've seen them a few times in the distance for the last three years, but... the fact is that when I see all that luxury in the castle, and I remember those eight years of solitude in the Brotherhood, even though I was surrounded by my brothers and sisters... I can't help but feel angry with the princess, not because she is rich, but because she is... loved."_

Elsa felt a pang of anguish as she remembered the conversation: Aeris saw her as her antithesis, and that was why her friend hated her (or, in this case, the person behind the cover, since the assassin knew only Shelby, the flower girl - not Elsa, the princess of Arendelle).

One thing she hadn't yet discovered in her analysis of the paperwork was the reason that had motivated an entire detachment to commit this atrocity in Mylai - and especially the motive that had led her father to protect those responsible for the crime.

It was a mistake she intended to correct as soon as possible, especially after she had rid herself of Terboven and Quisling - the general, for being the commander of the detachment who had committed the massacre, and the admiral, for being the general's main ally in preventing any inquiry on the subject.

A knock at the door interrupted her line of reasoning.

"Your Highness? It's breakfast time", said Gerda's voice from the hallway. "And the archbishop asked for a last-minute audience to discuss the details of the coronation."

Elsa sighed. Since she had written two letters to Rapunzel and Merida, telling them a very private secret (which, gratefully, had been preserved by her friends), the princess wasn't comfortable in the presence of the archbishop, especially considering the sermons he did.

Arendelle had no official religion; all beliefs were free to organize and carry on their activities, provided they didn't threaten the interests of the Crown. Elsa, like many of her countrymen, had no religion of her own, though the future monarch was a deist. However, the laws required that the leader of the most popular religion in the country be the one in charge of conducting the coronation ceremony in partnership with the Lord Regent - and in this case, it was the Archbishop, head of the Church of Arendelle.

Elsa couldn't understand how the teachings of the Messiah, who was appointed by the Church as the son of the only God and Savior, had been so distorted - what had been taught as love was being used by the Archbishop to justify ancient hatreds, especially against people like her.

"Okay, Gerda, I just have to get dressed", said the blonde, before rising from the bed with a determined expression. This would be a long day.

* * *

In the Guild, Jason was upset - the clothes Adéwalé had ordered for him to wear at the coronation had fit perfectly, but...

One year wearing rags in the Doctor's lab, and another three years in his hunter's robes made him unaccustomed to wearing elegant clothes - seriously, the last time he'd worn such an elegant outfit had been at the ball his cousin had given in honor of him and his sister, in Soleanna.

"Think of the bright side, my apprentice, at least you'll only need to introduce yourself to the queen at the ball", commented Adéwalé as he put on his mask.

"Will it be, Master? I haven't been to a ball for years…", murmured the green-eyed man as he finished adjusting the collar of his black robes, ignoring the amused gleam in his master's gaze.

"My boy, it's like riding a bicycle. Once you've learned, you never forget, no matter how much time passes", Adéwalé taught. "And besides, you've never stopped being who you are, considering what you told me, so I imagine that this ball won't be a problem for you."

Jason swallowed hard before answering. "Master, I... I know that here in the Guild, I'm just Jason Ryan Smith, professional hunter, but there are people who remember Jason Ryan Smith... Count of Soleanna, heir to the Eagle Throne, and cousin of Duchess Elise the Third."

He had revealed his full biography to Adéwalé shortly after he was admitted to the Hunters' Guild - the blue-haired young man had learned from his father that, in a master-apprentice relationship, trust should be the mainstay.

So Jason had revealed not only his superhuman speed, but also his family's ties with the Royal Family of Soleanna, which explained why the Southern Isles had kept his family in captivity - as Jason's mother was the sister of the late Duchess (and Elise's mother), the old king Wilhelm had kept the Smiths in custody to prevent Elise from invoking the military treaty between Soleanna and Westside, threatening to kill them if she did.

However, this didn't prevent several countries, led by Soleanna, from imposing an embargo on the Southern Isles and Weselton, which had weakened the economies of both nations.

Arendelle however, had maintained diplomatic and commercial relations with the aggressor nations by the decision of the late King Agdar - something Jason hoped the new queen would terminate as soon as possible.

So Jason knew he was going to have to see the representatives of the Southern Isles and Weselton at the coronation and the ball - he couldn't understand the motives that had prompted Elise to ask him, in the letter, to represent her at the event. At least it was a masquerade.

"Are you ready, my boy? That the carriage I rented will arrive soon", Adéwalé askd, looking away from the mirror after checking his mask and clothes for the last time.

"Almost master, you can go ahead and I'll catch up with you in five minutes", the hunter replied, bending down to pick up a box that had been sent along with the letter. As soon as Adéwalé closed the door, Jason opened the box, smiling at what was inside - he had no idea that Elise had kept it.

There was a richly decorated mask that left only his mouth exposed, and which he had worn at Soleanna's Carnival eight years before. The box also contained a noble's wig and an overly decorated Admiral hat for the carnival, full of feathers and frills, which matched perfectly with the clothes he was wearing.

The exile's smile had a good reason - he had used that combination the first time he and his cousin had kissed. At the time, Elise was wearing a double mask (that is, a full-face mask - which also left her mouth exposed - with a domino mask that covered the eye region above the first mask), along with a hat as exaggeratedly decorated as Jason's and a dress full of ornaments and jewels, plus a pair of silk gloves.

But Jason felt his joy fade a little when he realized that Elise would not be present at the coronation ceremony or at the ball - _which is a pity_ , the young man thought, _I was already excited for tonight_.

At least that's what he thought.

Little did he know that his beloved cousin was on the _Solaris_ , the private ship of the Duchess of Soleanna, preparing for the coronation.

* * *

Elsa's nerves were shattered - and the floor of the chapel's entrance looked like the surface of a frozen lake, thanks to the layer of frost that slowly spread through the place.

She could hear the conversations of the local dignitaries and foreigners who had been invited, and that didn't help her at all - if, until half an hour ago, she was sure she was ready to take the throne and host the night, now she was almost panicking with anxiety, no matter how Gerda tried to calm her down.

"Your Highness, please take a deep breath, the Archbishop will call you soon", pleaded the Chief Maid, placing her hands on the shoulders of the girl she had helped raise.

"I can't, Gerda, I can't!", cried the blonde in a desperate tone. "What am I doing, I shouldn't be crowned as queen so soon. Anna should be here at my side, I…", the princess rambled, not realizing that the frost spreading around her was turning into ice.

"Elsa, calm down please!" Gerda exclaimed, attracting her attention - if it wasn't common to hear Kai calling her by name, the fact that the Chief Maid was using it was even rarer. "I'm sure Anna is there in heaven, taking care of you and praying that everything goes as planned today. My dear girl…" Gerda murmured, her eyes starting to fill with tears as she bent to stroke the princess' face. "I saw you born, I saw you have to overcome Anna's death as a child, I saw you grow up and deal with the death of your parents, I saw you blossom and become the wonderful young woman you are."

"So don't take your fears into account my dear, I know your parents and your sister are proud of the young woman you are today, about to take the Crocus Throne and be the best ruler in Arendelle's history. I know it may sound pretentious, but you have a heart of the size of the entire world Elsa... I have faith that you'll change Arendelle as few people have ever done."

When Gerda finished her speech, the princess's blue eyes were overflowing with tears - but the ice had receded and eventually disappeared. The panic and anxiety she'd felt so far... where were they? She didn't know - and didn't even want to know.

"Thank you, Gerda, thank you so much", she murmured, before wrapping the Chief Maid in a tight embrace as she felt tears begin to flow down her pale face.

As she moved away from the hug, Gerda smiled and wiped Elsa's face before the tears reached her makeup, which had been applied hours ago by maids. "You're welcome, my dear, now take a deep breath. You play the most important part in this ceremony, and we, all of us, Kai, the servants, and even your parents and Anna, may the Gods have them, and myself, we're rooting for you."

Elsa smiled, before nodding at Gerda, who rose and walked away as the guards guarding the entrance to the chapel opened the door. Immediately, the conversations died, as the guests rose in unison to receive the princess.

With a slight smile on her face, Elsa entered the chapel, accompanied at a distance by Gerda, while Kai stood at the altar, holding the royal tiara next to the Archbishop, who held a pillow where a golden orb and the scepter with the Supreme Jewel, which glowed gently, at the top of the piece.

Upon reaching the altar, Elsa bent over for Kai to continue the ceremony. "As Lord Regent, I, Kai Amundsen, deliver the royal tiara to Princess Elsa of Arendelle." The Lord Chamberlain then placed the tiara over the young woman's platinum-blond strings. After that, Elsa lifted her head in time to see the Archbishop approaching her with the pillow where were the crown jewels lay.

Elsa stepped forward and took the scepter with her left hand and the orb with her right hand, lifting them as she turned to face the guests - she recognized some of them, like Rapunzel, who was accompanied by her husband, former thief Flynn Rider and now Prince Consort Eugene Fitzherbert, and Merida, who was with her parents, King Fergus and Queen Elinor of Dunbroch.

Some other known people were also there, such as the president of Spagonia, who had attended the burial of her parents, and the Emperor of Chu-Nan - who, a year earlier, had tried to persuade her to marry one of his sons, unsuccessfully.

The Archbishop began to speak. "Do you swear solemnly to rule the people of Arendelle, according to their laws and customs?"

"I swear", replied Elsa, focusing on the scepter and the orb.

"Do you swear to make the Law and Justice run in all your judgments?" The Archbishop asked solemnly.

"I swear", replied Elsa, with a determined gleam in her blue eyes.

"And do you swear to protect your people from the dangers inside and outside the borders of your queendom?"

"I swear", she replied, before turning again, returning the orb and scepter to the pillow - after the coronation ceremony, the Supreme Jewel would be disengaged from the scepter, and coupled with a necklace to be worn by the new sovereign.

Kai stepped forward and began to speak again. "Then, with the power invested in me by the Law as Lord Regent, as I declare my regency to end with this ceremony, I present to you Your Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle," announced the Lord Chamberlain, while all stood, as if obeying a command, before responding in unison.

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle!"

Elsa let out a small sigh as she thanked them with a bow. The first stage of the coronation had worked - now, it was time to wait for the ball to take place without a hitch.

* * *

The ball was in full swing, the guests chatted excitedly, the food was delicious and the music had several couples waltzing on the dance floor.

For Jason, who was protected from the outside world by the carnival mask and gala dress from Soleanna, it was a welcome change from his current routine - all the more so because he was arm in arm with a beautiful lady who wore a double mask (a full-face mask, except for the mouth, with a mask that covered the eye region above), an orange hat full of feathers and colored fabrics - well in the style of the carnival - and a chocolate-colored dress, full of ornaments and jewels.

Best of all, the girl who wore this outfit was his beloved cousin, Duchess Elise the Third, Duchess and Monarch of Soleanna.

She had surprised him at the entrance to the Royal Palace as she stepped out of a carriage that was parked near the entrance just as the hunters arrived for the ceremony; after the shock, since he didn't know that his cousin would come to Arendelle, Jason had received his beloved the way she deserved - with a passionate kiss.

"You look like you're in heaven, boy", Adéwalé said with a sardonic grin as he sipped his wine.

"And he has all the reasons in the world to be in heaven, _Signor_ Adéwalé", Elise countered amusingly, teasing out a light laugh from the black man. "It's been four years since I've been waiting for a moment like this", added the redhead before stealing a light peck from her cousin.

"Me too, Elise... by the Gods, I guess that was one of the few things that kept me going during _that_ year", Jason commented, before picking up a chocolate truffle from a tray served by a waiter.

"Have you always been this close?", asked the Guild's leader.

"Not always", replied the blue-haired hunter. "When we were younger, children, to be honest, we used to argue about anything. My father and my uncle, the late Duke of Soleanna, went crazy when they saw me, Joan and Elise screaming, often because of a toy that the three of us all wanted to use... "

Adéwalé raised his free hand to interrupt his pupil. "I'm sorry, Jason, but who is Joan?" He asked.

"My cousin, and Jason's younger sister", Elise replied. "Joan Kristen Smith, she's my age... it was almost like she was a sister to me."

"From Soleanna to Westside, it's only a six-day trip through the Mediterranean, since my homeland is close to Africa, so... we often saw each other at least once a month. And Elise and Joan, even when they were fighting, were very close, more than I was to either of them... except that everything changed when we entered adolescence. "

"My father died when I was nine, _Signor_ Adéwalé, so the visits of Jason and Joan became more frequent, since my regent... wasn't exactly a sociable person. I even have a certain envy of Queen Elsa, who managed to put her Lord Chamberlain, a trustworthy person, as her Lord Regent."

"So, as Elise and I grew up, we became involved... not officially, since the Council of Soleanna wanted to persuade her to enter into an arranged marriage. But, if I have to nominate a characteristic that Elise inherited from my uncle and my aunt, it was the strong sense of independence."

"I never wanted a marriage arranged, and thanks to the Gods I found love in my family... Jason is my first love, it was with him that I had my first kiss, and he was my first…", murmured the sovereign of the Eagle Throne, blushing intensely under the mask.

"When King Wilhelm of the Southern Isles invaded Westside, I had the Soleanna Armed Forces mobilized, even though I was a minor, invoking the Treaty of Friendship between the two nations. However, on the eve of boarding, I received a letter from the Isles: they knew of Soleanna's mobilization, and they told me that my uncles, Joan and Jason had been arrested during the invasion. They threatened to kill them as soon as the first soldier of my army stepped on the Westside, and I was forced to cancel the mobilization", Elise concluded somberly as she took her cousin's hand.

Jason squeezed Elise's hand tenderly, trying to comfort her; Adéwalé, for his part, remained silent, awaiting the rest of the story.

"The year that passed between the invasion and the letter I received from Jason, when he was already in Arendelle, was a real hell. As if the anguish of not hearing about any of them wasn't enough, the Council renewed its efforts to arrange a marriage... to the point where I had all the counselors dismissed, exchanging them for people of my absolute confidence."

"But I don't understand one thing, milady", interrupted Adéwalé, while accepting a snack offered by a waiter. "If my apprentice Jason is your cousin, why did he decide to come to Arendelle instead of going to Soleanna?"

"Security reasons", replied the blue-haired man. "You know about Anthony, don't you, Adé? He worked for several years in Soleanna, before being banished from the duchy due to inhumane experiments. The problem is... during that time, he learned of my powers. When he discovered that I had been detained during the invasion, he, as the chief scientist and counselor of the Duke of Weselton, ordered me and other prisoners to be sent to his laboratory, but his real target... was me."

Jason stopped talking, still feeling the phantom pain that the doctor's electric shocks had provoked on him. To his relief, Elise resumed the narrative.

"When Jason escaped, he only told me where he was after two years, and that was because he was terrified that Anthony would aim his artillery against me, since he knows we're cousins."

"I don't know if I understood the logic of my apprentice, milady, but I can only say that I am happy that everything worked out", replied Adéwalé, placing one hand on the younger hunter's left shoulder. "You have a bright future in the Guild, Jason - even if one day you decide to return to Soleanna, you will always be a part of our family. And I will always be proud to be your master", the black-skinned man added proudly.

Jason smiled gratefully. It didn't matter if he was at an elegant ball, on a ship, in a tavern, on a snow-covered road, in the Valley of Living Rock: if he was with whom he loved - Elise, Adéwalé, Kristoff, Sven, Jonas, Marshall, Olaf, Kristine, Bulda - then he had every reason in the world to be happy.

* * *

"So, Els... has anyone here caught your eye?" Rapunzel asked with a conspiratorial smile, drawing a chuckle from Merida and an exasperated exclamation of the new queen.

"For God's sake, Punzie, if I knew you were going to ask me that every ten minutes, I would never have sent that letter!"

"You know I would have asked anyway, I just changed the target's gender", replied the Princess of Corona, before sipping her drink.

"Elsa, Elsa, Elsa…" Merida began in a professorial tone. "You've already done the hardest part, which is admitting your feelings - now, it's time to start looking for a beautiful lady…"

"MERIDA!", cried Elsa, beginning to turn red.

"...and there's no better place to start than here!", she added, ignoring her interruption. Rapunzel nodded vigorously at the same time that Elsa rested her face on her hands.

"By all Gods... What if I don't want to meet someone, at least for now?", she challenged, her voice muffled by her hands.

"Are you sure about that?" Rapunzel asked, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, if you weren't the host of the masquerade, I might even use the old 'Have You Met Elsa?' trick."

"Even if I wasn't the hostess, Punz, I'm the queen - I mean, who wouldn't know who I am?"

"Everyone?" Merida replied, blinking her eyes behind the domino mask. "Have you forgotten, Els, that more than half the queendom has never seen your face? At least you didn't hide in your room after Anna's death, but the fact is that you, let's put it this way, have always been more of a homebody person. Also, with Kai being the Lord Regent for the last three years, he took care of the routine in your place, so he went to official events while you prepared to take the throne, my dear."

Elsa nodded. Merida undoubtedly had a solid point.

"So, Els... be well aware that this is not a criticism, but you are still an illustrious stranger to many people. Of course, if we talk about you, everyone will know who you are, whether it's the fact that you are the queen of Arendelle or your powers over ice and snow. But if you show up with a clean face, wearing clothes that aren't made of ice, you could walk through the Royal City all day without being noticed", added Rapunzel.

"Okay, I got your point. Very well, since, apparently, I have no choice…"

"You really don't", chorused the two girls in unison, receiving a glare from Elsa in reply.

"...let's start. What do you suggest?"

"Well…" Rapunzel began, putting her hand to her chin. "We have to start with the following question, Elsa: what kind of woman do you prefer?"

Immediately, the image of a beautiful hooded assassin with teal eyes and a frank and sweet smile appeared in her head - the same image that had haunted her dreams for weeks.

Elsa blushed again as she realized that, as much as she wanted to avoid it - because it sounded too cliché, in her opinion - Aeris was the first person she thought of in imagining her model of a woman.

What had begun as gratitude for her saving her life had evolved over the first days and weeks into a genuine friendship, even with the enormous differences between the lives of the two girls. And now, friendship was just beginning to give way to a huge attraction - not just physical, but emotional.

But Elsa didn't know if this was because she saw Aeris was a strong, independent woman, the type who didn't depend on a man to live, or if it was because…

 _No, no, no, you can stop, Elsa!_ The blonde said in her head, praying that Rapunzel and Merida wouldn't notice her inner turmoil. _Aeris is only your friend. A good friend! A friend who, if she knew who you are…_

Elsa didn't allow herself to complete the sentence: she knew that Aeris wasn't exactly a fan of the queen of Arendelle, but she didn't want to imagine her friend's reaction to finding out who was behind the codename Shelby. A small part of her, the optimistic part that she had inherited from her sister, hoped that the assassin's reaction was the best possible, but - if she was realistic, and she was - Elsa was almost convinced that Aeris wouldn't be a bit happy to realize that her friend was also the person she hated most.

"Elsa? Apparently you already have a type of woman in mind", commented Merida, causing the queen to awaken from her thoughts.

"Actually... I'd say she already has one person in mind, am I right?", countered Rapunzel, looking at Elsa with a lively gleam in her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Elsa nodded, causing the Coronan princess to squeal. "I knew it! I KNEW IT! Who's the lucky girl, Elsa?"

"Punzie, this story is very complicated. She…"

"Your Majesty?" Called a hoarse and scary voice, making the three royals to jump.

Turning around, Elsa saw Kai, now as the Lord Chamberlain, accompanied by two extremely discrepant people: one was a little white-haired man (whom the monarch was sure was wearing a wig) with a prominent mustache and a monocle, and who wore a blue uniform full of military decorations. He also wore a simple white mask that covered half of his face - which explained the need for the monocle.

The other one was a tall and very fat man in a red coat with white accents and gold buttons, and black trousers; he was bald, but also had a huge brown mustache - bigger than his own face - as well as blue eyes almost completely hidden by the domino mask he wore, and huge hands protected by white gloves.

Elsa could not help thinking that for some reason the second man's appearance resembled an enormous egg.

"Who would like to talk to me?", the queen asked, her tone cool and formal - she knew who the little man was, and she wasn't at all that happy about it.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Weselton", Kai replied formally - at least to Rapunzel, Merida, and the two strangers. Only Elsa, who had known Kai since her childhood, could detect a tone of utter disdain in his voice.

"Your Majesty", began the duke, in a flattering tone. "As your closest trading partner, I'd like to introduce you to my principal advisor, and Weselton's chief scientist."

The fat man approached and, bowing, held out his hand to Elsa, who accepted it. Kissing her pale fingers, the Weselton's counselor introduced himself.

"A pleasure to meet you at last, Queen Elsa of Arendelle. I am Doctor Anthony Ivo Robotnik, also known as Doctor Eggman."

* * *

Jason was finishing another dance with Elise when he saw him, introducing himself to the queen.

It was enough for him to feel bad as the phantom pain of electrical shocks passed through him.

" _Now... we need to know how far your powers can go, Mr. Smith, and I think a little more energy can help... Take a load of this!"_

"Jason? What's the matter, sweetheart?", the Duchess of Soleanna asked in a worried tone as she realized her cousin's discomfort - quickly, she helped him, dragging him away from the dance floor before anything could happen to him as she removed her own mask.

Glancing frantically sideways as she searched for a chair, Elise quickly caught sight of Adéwalé, who was talking to one of the guests. With a nod, the redhead managed to catch the attention of the leader of the Hunters' Guild, who frowned immediately as he saw the state of his apprentice.

"Jason? Jason, what happened, my boy?" The man asked as he approached the couple.

Sitting in a chair, the Count of Soleanna took several deep breaths, removing his mask to ease the situation, while Elise and Adéwalé watched him, with worried expressions on their faces.

For Jason, seeing the Doctor again was as if a nightmare were coming true - the man who had turned his life into hell was back.

"That... that…", began the blue-haired hunter, trying to control his emotions - to no avail. "That man with the queen…"

"What about him?" Adéwalé asked, staring in the direction Jason was indicating, and recognizing no one but the monarch (since, being a leader of the Guild, the former slave was also a member of the Council).

Elise, however, held her breath at the sight of the fat man. Horrified, she could only murmur. "My God, Jason... is that _him_?"

"Yes, Elise, it's him. Adé, my master, that man there was my warden, the bastard who tortured me for a year in Westside: Anthony Ivo Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman, as he likes to be called", spat the man with a mixture of terror, hatred and contempt in his voice. At the same time, the wish to break the neck of the scientist began to cross his mind…

Jason immediately dismissed the murderous wish at the same time Adéwalé spoke angrily. "Is that _him_?" He asked, unable to disguise his fury. As soon as his pupil nodded, the Guild leader began to walk towards the scientist, but Elise grabbed his arm, preventing him from punching Eggman in the way he deserved.

"Lady Elise, you know he deserves to hear some truths!" Adéwalé snarled, trying to break free from the strong (and incredible, for a girl who appeared to be so fragile) grip of Soleanna's monarch on his wrist. "In fact, he deserves to be spanked!"

" _Signor_ Adéwalé, I completely agree with you, but here is not the place nor the time for this!", hissed Elise, strengthening her grip and making the veteran hunter choke with pain. "Remember we're at a gala, not a tavern!", exclaimed the duchess, squeezing his arm even tighter.

" **Ah**!" Exclaimed Adéwalé, grimacing painfully. "All right, all right, milady, I get it! Now, can you let me go before you squeeze my arm off, please?"

With a satisfied smile, Elise let go of the older hunter's arm. Turning back to Jason, who was still silent, she asked. "Are... are you okay?"

"I suppose so", muttered the islander, before rising from his chair. "I mean, I'm not as well as I'd like, but..." He stopped talking, his eyes widening as he saw a couple waltzing on the dance floor.

Both of them were wearing domino masks, which didn't hide their faces - he had red hair and sideburns, and wore a white coat, with some military decorations, and pants of the same color. She, in turn, wore a dress as red as her companion's hair, and her brown hair was tied in a bun, while her green eyes and tanned skin confirmed who she was.

"It's not possible", said the young man, in an extremely low tone, before putting on his mask one more time. Turning to his cousin and his master, he spoke, with a determination he couldn't imagine was his voice. "I'm going to the dance floor, and I'll be right back in a few minutes."

"What?" Adéwalé asked in disbelief. "Jason, did you go crazy? You were feeling bad, and now you're going back to the dance floor?"

"I need to confirm one thing, master. You'll understand when I get back, which shouldn't take long."

"Are you sure of that, cousin?" Elise asked, worried. "If you want, we can leave for the Guild or my ship."

"Yes, my love", Jason replied, taking her face in his hands before giving her a quick kiss. "Because, if I confirm what I saw, Eggman wasn't the only person from my past that I saw tonight."

The duchess and the leader of the hunters looked at each other in confusion as Jason marched toward the dance floor to where the couple stood. Swallowing, the blue-haired man took advantage of the mask completely hiding his face and resumed the facade he had used a few times during the ball.

At this point, Jason Ryan Smith was no longer there, but the Count of Soleanna was.

"Excuse me, my lord, my lady", said the hunter, using a voice more husky than usual to be unrecognized; the couple stopped dancing and turned to him. "My lord, do you mind if your lady gives me the honor of a dance?"

The man's eyes widened slightly at Jason's boldness, which made the exile smile: any discomfort of his interlocutor was a victory for him. Turning to the woman, he asked, "Honey, is everything okay with you?"

The woman looked at Jason suspiciously, before turning to her companion. "Don't worry, Hans, I know how to take care of myself. And if you need help, I know where to find you", she concluded, before giving a soft kiss to Hans's mouth - which made Jason wince, grateful that he was hidden by the mask.

With a faint smile, Hans stole a quick peck from the woman before handing her her hand to Jason, who took her to a reasonably spacious spot on the stage where the two of them began to dance.

With an indecipherable expression, the woman said sourly. "So you're the new Count of Soleanna, aren't you?"

"What?", asked the hunter, pretending he hadn't understood what he had heard, which caused the brunette to roll her eyes - Jason smiled as he recognized this old habit.

"Please, we have all seen you enter the chapel with Elise. I thought she would have some regard for her family, especially after her cousin was arrested... but I already noticed that she took the first chance she got and chose a new heir to the throne, probably one of the idiots her counselors got."

Trying to contain the smile behind the mask, Jason decided to continue with his little game. "Thank you for the thought, my lady, but I believed that Elise was more esteemed... at least that's what I knew when I came to the coronation."

The noblewoman let out an exasperated sigh. "That's what I thought, too, my lord, until I saw you enter arm in arm with her into the chapel. If my husband hadn't calmed me down, I think I would have gone to her and given her a piece of my mind."

"Wow", said the hunter with a hoarse laugh. "If I didn't know that her cousins were in prison, I'd say you know the Duchess well."

"Very well, I would say", agreed the woman, as she continued to waltz with Jason around the room. "We were practically raised together, until... until the invasion."

"The invasion of Westside Island by the Southern Isles?"

"That's right", she confirmed, tensing slightly. "My family and I were arrested, and I was separated from my brother... my luck is that I was assigned to work as a servant of the man who, years later, became my husband, Prince Hans. I sometimes still can't believe that the man who made me tremble with fear when I was going to clean his room or his office is today the most important person in my life", added the woman, with a glow of pure love in her green eyes.

Jason felt his insides twist at the news - that was the last thing he imagined (or wanted) to hear at that ball. What his mind kept screaming at that moment was that Hans - the arrogant bastard who had led the Smiths to prison during the Westside Island raid - had spared no effort to crush his family's pride.

"You know, Joan Kristen Smith, you're wrong: Elise has a lot of regard for her family, she never stopped caring for her loved ones", Jason commented, making the brunette's eyes widen.

"How... how do you know my name?" She asked in surprise.

"Because I was one of the first to know…" began the hunter, before leaving the facade and hoarse voice, resuming his habitual voice. "Sister."

If the woman was already surprised earlier, it was the little shove that was left for her to be completely baffled, Jason noted. Though they continued to dance, she was no longer paying any attention to the steps. She was too busy staring into the green eyes of the exile.

The man knew that if she had not connected the dots, it was only a matter of seconds before she did.

"Jason?" She murmured, her voice starting to fill with emotion.

* * *

 _Author's Note: And this concludes the first part of Elsa's coronation as Queen of Arendelle. Although there hasn't been an Eternal Winter, as there was in the movie, what wasn't lacking in this celebration was emotion._

 _I also hope this chapter has helped you learn a bit more about the characters, especially Jason. After all, we now know of the love of his life, his sister and the man who turned his life into a living hell. Oh, and I had a reader asking me who Hans's wife was... I suppose the answer surprised you, not to mention that Jason discovered that one of the people he hates the most is now his brother-in-law._

 _In the next chapter, we will see the second part of the coronation... But unfortunately, I can't tell you more than that. There is so much that's about to happen, not only in the next chapter, but in the next couple of chapters, that I don't want to risk accidentally dropping some spoilers._

 _Thanks to all the readers who left reviews for Chapter 7, your words are the fuel that keeps me writing - every word, be it praise, criticism or a suggestion, is more than welcome and necessary. Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And thanks to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _See you next chapter!_


	9. The Unholy Trinity

Disclaimer: all the characters, locations and items in this work are trademarked by Disney, Sega and Ubisoft, unless noted otherwise. All original characters, if not related to existing characters, are owned by the author.

 **Chapter 9 - The Unholy Trinity**

"Good evening, Joan", murmured the hunter, staring at his sister for the first time in four years.

All at once, a flood of memories surfaced: childhood jokes, more serious conversations, trips they had made with their parents, birthday parties, solstices, family gatherings, random events... and the last time they had seen each other, in the old Westside prison just before Jason was removed from the cell to serve as a guinea pig for Eggman.

He felt the hand holding his shoulder tighten.

"My God, it's really you!", murmured Joan, enthusiastically. "Jason, I thought I would never see you again, our parents and I thought you were dead!"

"Well, as you can see, sister, I'm very much alive", replied the hunter, his voice slightly choked with emotion. "But I confess, I didn't expect to see you at this coronation, I thought that you, Dad and Mom were still incarcerated... by the way", he began uncertainly. "You married _him_?", he asked, trying not to sound too disgusted.

Joan took a deep breath before continuing, which made Jason certain that the subject would be a source of much discussion.

"Yes. My current name is Joan Kristen Smith-Westergaard, Princess of the Southern Isles. I was married to Prince Hans Westergaard about eight months ago."

If the brunette could see the face behind the mask, she would realize that her brother had gone pale from the shock - until then, he didn't want to believe the idea that his sister had married the Smith's warden, the man who had led the arrest of all of them, including hers!

"Joan, you know what he did, don't you?", He asked, his tone low and hurt.

"Yes, Jason, I know. But, it's been four years!", exclaimed his little sister, trying not to raise her voice. "I remember that after you were separated from us, mom, dad and I were sent to the Southern Isles to work as servants at King Wilhelm's court, and I was assigned to look after Hans's room and office."

"So he was your _master_? Because, as far as I knew, the Westside prisoners were turned into slaves", Jason countered, irritation starting to get the better of him, which made Joan grit her teeth in sheer frustration.

"Okay, I'll concede this time. I became a slave to Prince Hans. Satisfied?"

"No, I still can't understand how you went from a slave to the wife of this bastard."

Joan's eyes flashed with hurt, but her expression made it clear that she was already waiting for it - but that didn't make her agree with her brother.

"I'll get there, Jason. The fact is, I was assigned to wash and clean the rooms used by Hans, and the first few days were... terrible. If it wasn't enough to know that I was a war prisoner, and that they could end my life with a wave of their hands, and Hans... look, I love my husband, and I know he loves me, but I can say that the way he looked at me the first few days was enough to scare me."

"Joan... what did he do to you?", the hunter growled, in the midst of an internal struggle to keep his head in place and avoid attacking the prince of the Southern Isles in the middle of the Royal Palace. Joan swallowed, as she assumed a pensive expression, like she was evaluating what she should say. Finally, she began to talk.

"Three months after the invasion, I was cleaning Hans' office when I bumped into a statuette over his desk and knocked it over, breaking it into several pieces. As I tried to gather what was left of the statuette, Hans entered the room and... to summarize the story, to this day I still have the scars of the lashes that I received on my back because of that."

Jason's blood started to boil, and he knew that if he kept hearing the rest of the story, he would end up committing a murder sooner or later. But he needed to know everything, especially because it was his sister who had suffered.

"It was Hans who whipped you, wasn't it?" Joan nodded hesitantly, which made Jason sigh. "Damn bastard", growled the blue-haired man, as he tightened his grip on his sister's hand - but being careful not to exaggerate his strength.

"Jason, please bear in mind that the Hans of that time was not today's Hans. Today he can't look at my back without feeling guilty for what he did!"

"That doesn't matter, Joan, what matters is what he did to you!", exclaimed the islander, outraged, trying to keep his voice low enough to not catch the attention of the other guests. "By God, I'm afraid to hear of what else might have happened."

Joan paled at this remark; she had another story to tell her brother, but, after seeing his reaction to the first incident, the Princess of the Southern Isles was sure that the ball would end in tragedy if she told what had happened two months after the whipping episode - or rather, what _almost_ happened.

Even so, this second incident had left her with nightmares for weeks.

Noticing his sister's frightened expression, Jason realized that her story wasn't over yet - and it was terrifying enough to make him want to strangle Hans. However, if he wanted to find out what had happened, he would have to calm down, for her sake - and when he started talking again, it was in the calmest voice possible.

"Joan... please, I know we haven't seen each other for four years, and I know that I may not be the same person since the invasion, but... I'm still your older brother, and you know you can trust me, don't you?"

The girl breathed slowly and deeply, before answering. "Yes, Jason, I trust you." Then she assumed a more determined tone. "I'm just saying this. You're my brother, my best friend, the man I've known the longest, along with our father, so I trust you completely."

"So... please, sister, what else happened?"

* * *

"Welcome to Arendelle, Dr. Eggman", replied Elsa, successfully hiding her disgust at the scientist. Turning to the Duke of Weselton, she commented. "I confess I hadn't expected a guest in your delegation, Your Lordship."

"Well, Your Majesty, don't blame My Lord", replied Eggman, with a charming smile. "I always wanted to visit the Land of the Auroras, and the coronation seemed like the perfect moment to me. Not to mention, I have a fascination with magic."

Upon hearing the word "magic", the queen of Arendelle noticed the grimace made by the Duke of Weselton - _interesting_ , she thought, _they have different opinions on the subject_. Immediately, she stored the information in her head - it could be very useful in the future.

"Then, knowing that Your Majesty has powers over snow and ice, I confess... I was very anxious to meet you", continued the scientist, ignoring his master's disgusted expression.

As much of a bad opinion about Eggman as Elsa had the stories she'd heard about him - most of them provided at the audience three years ago with Jason Ryan Smith - she could see that his interest in the subject was sincere, which was a blessing compared to the blatant flattery of the Duke of Weselton.

"It surprises me to know that a man of science is interested in the unpredictable universe of magic", said Rapunzel, taking a sip of his drink.

"Princess Rapunzel of Corona, isn't it? I've heard a lot of stories about you, my dear", said Eggman, stepping forward to kiss the hand of the heiress of the Sun Throne.

"I suppose so, doctor",' said Rapunzel, extending her hand for the scientist to kiss it. "During the last Lantern Festival, a few weeks ago, a group of minstrels had made a ballad called 'Tangled', retelling my story with Gothel and Eugene in a musical tone."

"Too bad I missed it, Your Highness", lamented Eggman. "Anyway, answering your question... my grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, who was also a scientist... he was a scholar dedicated to the study of magic. He had an interest in discovering the origin of these powers, which he called the _gods' gift,_ and of using them to aid in the development of science."

"And he succeeded?", asked Merida curiously.

"No", Eggman murmured regretfully. "He died several years ago, before he could complete his work... what is your name, my lady?"

"Princess Merida of Dunbroch, and I'm sorry for your loss", replied the Scotswoman.

"Oh, I've heard of you, Your Highness... or rather, about your mother, and the day she was turned into a bear."

The effect was immediate: the Duke of Weselton raised his grimace, while Elsa and Rapunzel suppressed their laughter as a redness appeared in Merida's face. Ignoring the scene around him, Eggman kissed the red-haired princess' hand, just as he had done with the other royals.

"I... it was an accident, I didn't imagine that... er... at least everything went well", murmured Merida, completely embarrassed.

"Don't worry Your Highness, it's like you said, everything went well", the scientist replied in a comfortable tone, which made the Duke clear his throat in frustration.

"Anthony, I can see you're having a good time, but come with me, we still have other people to talk to", Weselton said, his face dark. With a resigned sigh, Eggman bowed to the three royals.

"I hope to meet you again, miladies, I enjoyed our conversation."

Rapunzel and Merida nodded in agreement, while Elsa remained motionless, closely watching Eggman and the Duke of Weselton walk away until they were gone in the midst of the other guests.

"What did you think of him, Elsa?", asked the Princess of Corona, looking at her friend with an indecipherable expression. Seeing that Merida had a similar expression on her face, the blonde smiled, relieved, before answering.

"For a second, I was sure you had been won over by his charm."

"May the gods save me from that misfortune!", cried the Scottish woman with a low laugh. "He is more discreet than the old ferret, I have to admit, but it's as they say: once flattering, always flattering."

"Besides, it was enough to look at your face when they arrived to see that you didn't like them at all", Rapunzel added, seconds before another figure approached the girls: a tall man with dark brown hair and a goatee of the same color, wearing a white coat and a mask that covered most of the face, except for the nose, mouth, and his brown eyes.

"Punzie?", Eugene called, staring at the dance floor with a puzzled expression. "Was that fat man who just passed me old Dr. Eggman?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow, which was followed by the other girls. "How do you know him, Eugene?"

Looking quickly at his wife's friend, he explained. "I met him back when I worked as a thief, he hired me for a job. I had to steal some very old jewelry, if my memory doesn't fail me. But that was many years ago, Elsa, I had never seen him again since that time."

Elsa nodded, accepting the explanation. "And what was he like? Was he a nice boss?"

"Honestly? Forgive me, but he was a pain in the ass", shot the former thief, causing Merida to spit out the wine she was drinking. "He kept complaining, had a shorter temper than the Stabbington brothers, and was arrogant and immature. Seriously, if something didn't occurr exactly as he wanted, even if the outcome was as expected in his plans, Eggman had a temper tantrum that made him look more like a child than a grown man."

The Queen of Arendelle pondered Eugene's account - all indications were that this courtesy was simply a facade of the scientist. His real personality must have been the one that had been demonstrated to her friend's husband at the time he was known as Flynn Rider.

Elsa concluded that Eugene could be immensely valuable in the future if Eggman were to show his true face.

"Eugene... could you do me a great favor?" When she saw the Prince-Consort of Corona nod, she continued. "If we ever need information about Anthony Ivo Robotnik, could you help us? I fear he may be a very dangerous enemy in the near future and since you have worked with him…"

Eugene raised his hand to ask Elsa to stop talking. "Don't worry, Elsa, I'm at your disposal if you need my help." The queen smiled gratefully as Rapunzel kissed her husband's cheek.

She was sure that, given her plans for the coalition, Robotnik's aura of gentleness would become history in a matter of seconds.

* * *

Jason Ryan Smith was bloodthirsty - thirsty for the blood of Prince Hans Westergaard of the Southern Isles to be more specific.

He had said farewell to Joan seconds ago, after returning her to her husband - unwillingly, if he was honest with himself - and was returning to Elise and Adéwalé, who were talking in low voices, at the same time casting worried looks to the islander.

Jason couldn't hold back a wry smile - as much as he wanted to vent all his emotions with someone, he was still so grumpy that it was a bad idea.

"Seeing your face, kid, you have discovered something very unpleasant", commented the leader of the Hunters' Guild as Jason approached them.

"Understatement of the millennium, Adé, I can guarantee that", said the young hunter, before turning to give a peck on Elise's lips.

"You were right, weren't you, cousin?", asked the duchess in anguish. "Who else did you meet tonight?"

Jason closed his green eyes, trying to control the absolute chaos that was in his head - he was not sure he could keep his nerves in place, unless he stopped to breathe for a few seconds, and he didn't want to worry his cousin and his master more than they already were

The most basic question was _how?_ How would Elise react when she learned that her cousin had married the man who had detained the Smiths - and consequently made Jason's life a living hell?

The hunter wasn't happy about this turn of events, to say the least, especially after Joan had told the second incident - she had only done so after taking an oath from him.

 _"I want you to promise, brother, that you won't do anything against Hans, no matter what I tell you - he is my husband, and I have already forgiven him. And I know very well that you're the type that doesn't rule out violent action."_

 _"But, Joan... I don't know if I can promise this, this man was responsible for the disgrace done to our family!"_

 _"Jason, Dad and Mom are already free from slave labor, they also forgave him, can't you do that too?"_

 _"No!"_

In the end, Joan had managed to make Jason swear he wouldn't hurt Hans in any way, no matter how much he wanted to - and only then she'd told him what happened after the whipping incident.

The islander had immediately regretted his oath upon hearing the news, but it was too late.

"Joan", murmured Jason, still with his eyes closed.

"What?", asked Adéwalé, confused, while Elise paled.

"That was my sister, Joan Kristen Smith... Westergaard," completed the blue-haired hunter, still keeping his eyes closed. "She married the man who arrested me and my family, Prince Hans Westergaard."

"You're joking, aren't you?" Elise asked desperately. "For Solaris, tell me you're joking, Jason!"

"I wish I could, my love", replied the exile, opening his eyes and staring at his surprised master and his frightened cousin. "But, unfortunately, she's married to that... that... that jerk."

"Wow!" exclaimed Adéwalé, shocked, with a hand to his chin. "I confess I didn't expect that, my boy."

"And I, even less!" exploded Elise, glancing fiercely at Joan and Hans, talking animatedly to another couple of dignitaries. The gleam in her eyes was enough to make Jason nervous - it was as if a burning flame was within his cousin's blue eyes. "How... how could she do such a thing like that?"

"I still don't understand it, Elise... she said she worked as a slave for him, but the bastard has fallen in love with her and offered freedom to Joan and our parents in exchange for her hand in marriage."

Hearing those words, Jason was sure that Elise was going to march to Joan, such was the anger that emanated from her. Before she could do anything however, the hunter put a hand on her cousin's shoulder and stroked it soothingly.

"I know what you're feeling, sweetie, I'm also very angry... but with him. However, she made me swear that I would not hurt him at all, so... I'm going to have to accept this situation, as much as I'm unhappy about it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I am, Elise... She promised to keep a secret about the fact that I'm here, not even... not even her husband will know, so we can be sure it's a fair exchange: my security for the safety of my brother-in-law."

Still disappointed with Joan's actions, Elise hugged her cousin, resting her face on his neck. "Why does life have to be so unfair?" asked the Duchess of Soleanna, her voice muffled.

"I don't know, my love. I wish I knew", whispered Jason.

"I think this is a mystery no one can explain, my boy", commented Adéwalé, in a low voice. "The good suffer more than the bad, that's one of the certainties of life."

* * *

"Thank you all, I hope you have all enjoyed the party", said Elsa, standing next to the throne, looking at each of the guests. It was already three o'clock in the morning, and as much as the masquerade had been a success, it was time to retire, even more so because she had so much to do from the moment she would wake up a few hours later. "If you need an escort to your ships, or to your accommodations, just talk to Kai or Gerda, they'll know what to do. Goodnight everyone."

Soon, Elsa was walking to the side door of the ballroom, which gave access to a passage to the Castle's Residential Wing. Rapunzel, Merida, and their respective families had retired half an hour ago, overcome by fatigue, and were accommodated in the Royal Palace's Guest Wing, where they would spend the night before returning to their respective homes in Corona and Dunbroch.

Along the way, she stopped a few times to say goodbye to dignitaries who were leaving. However, it was only when she was arriving at the side door that she saw three guests with whom she had not yet spoken to that night.

The Duchess and the Count of Soleanna, both wearing masks and clothes that made them almost unrecognizable, and the leader of the Arendelle Hunters' Guild, wearing a simple mask and no-flamboyant gala clothes - which matched well with the hunter's lifestyle.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at the trio preparing to retreat; as far as she knew, the chief of the hunters had never left Arendelle after having been granted the asylum by her father years before, and the last time the country had received a state visit from Soleanna had been for over fifteen years before, when the father of the present duchess was the sovereign of the city-state.

It was possible that they had met at the ball, but, given their body language, they seemed to have known each other for a long time.

Without restraining her curiosity, the queen of Arendelle decided to go to speak with the three. At the least, she would avoid the possibility of not having spoken to a dignitary.

Upon seeing the monarch approaching, the duchess, the count and the hunter immediately stopped walking. "Your Majesty, I'm the Duchess Elise of Soleanna", said the girl, curtsying in greeting as the count and the hunter bowed. "Thank you very much for the invitation, it is an honor for my country and for my family."

"Thank you, Your Highness, and I apologize for only giving you due attention now that the masquerade is over", Elsa said, in a slightly guilty tone.

"Don't worry about it, Your Majesty", Elise replied, trying to sound more confident than she was. "My friends and I had an... intense night."

Elsa noticed a certain hesitancy in the duchess' words at the last phrase, but she decided not to press - this wasn't the time or place for it. Turning to the Count, who wore a mask that hid most of his face, she said. "I hope you have enjoyed my hospitality, your lordship."

"No doubt about it, Your Majesty", the man replied in a hoarse voice, which nevertheless sounded strangely familiar to the Queen of Arendelle. "I had heard of your country's gala balls, but I had no idea that Your Majesty was going to hold a masquerade - and I must say, it was a pleasant surprise."

"Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. And before I forget, I heard that you've been living in Arendelle for three years", Elsa remarked, noting the surprised look the Count cast at Elise. "I don't understand why you didn't visit me during that time. It was my duty as sovereign to receive you the way you deserved."

"Don't worry, you received me when I came here, Your Majesty, and in the way a person from my position should be received", answered the nobleman, surprising Elsa. Before the blonde responded, he raised his hand to indicate he would continue talking. "I know you must be curious to know who is hiding behind this mask my lady, but I came to Arendelle in search of peace and quiet. That's why I chose not to reveal my identity, and it won't be now that I will. Maybe in the future, who knows, but I beg of you, Your Majesty, to respect my desire."

Elsa nodded reluctantly. She had many questions for the Count of Soleanna, but if that was what he wanted, she would respect that. Besides, she had one more question to clarify - which made her turn to the black-skinned man who accompanied the couple.

"Master Adéwalé, I never imagined that you knew the Duchess and the Count of Soleanna."

"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to see you again. And yes, I know them, we have... mutual friends", replied the leader of the Hunters' Guild. "Not to mention they're great company, I didn't even realize how fast the ball went by."

"And as for your apprentice, Mr. Smith? I remember he also received an invitation, and it's been three years since I last saw him. I would like to know how he is, and how the last years have been."

"Jason had to leave a little earlier, Your Majesty, the fatigue overcame him. He asked me to apologize for not being able to talk to you, but he has Guild's matters to deal with tomorrow."

"All right, Master Adéwalé, I understand the situation."

"But... he still doesn't know, but I plan to start sending him to some Council meetings in my place," he announced; Elsa didn't notice the Count of Soleanna twisting his neck toward Adéwalé. "The boy has the potential, Your Majesty, and I imagine he could be my successor in the leadership of the Guild in the future."

Elsa nodded in agreement. If Jason Ryan Smith had so much potential, he could become a trusted adviser in the future when Adéwalé decided to retire from the Guild leadership.

"Your Majesty, if you don't mind... We will retire for now," said the Duchess of Soleanna, in a slightly exhausted tone. "I have to rest a little before the return trip, and the Count and Master Adéwalé also need sleep."

"Of course, Your Highness, I'm sorry. Have a good night and a good rest", said Elsa.

The duchess performed a curtsy in response as the men bowed before turning and walking away. Seeing that they were, in fact, the last guests to leave the Royal Palace, Elsa couldn't contain a yawn.

Minutes later, she was alone in her bedroom, undressing from the dress she had worn during the ball. Looking at herself in a mirror, she allowed herself a few minutes to look at her naked body. She wondered how much of the Council would want her to marry as soon as possible with a man - preferably of royal blood of a powerful country, who could be a strategic ally of Arendelle in an hour of need.

However, the Queen's wish was different - and in the end, no matter what the Council thought, she would only get married whenever she wanted, and with whomever she wanted. She knew that when she decided to reveal her sexual orientation, it would cause a scandal - especially with the more conservative religions in the kingdom.

However, as much as Agdar was a conservative man, she had to thank the fact that her mother, Idunn, was much more understanding about the differences - so much so that the late queen had been the first person to know that Elsa vastly preferred the company of women over men.

She still remembered her mother's words: _"Honey, some people think that love can be a scandal. I disagree, the real scandal is hate. So if one of these 'good men' ever says that you can't marry a woman because that will bring shame to the kingdom, remember: the real shame is in condemning a person for the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their birthplace or their religion. I believe that the Savior differentiates people by what is inside their hearts, not by their exterior."_

Idunn, however, was only a single person - and Agdar had favored, throughout his reign, the presence of conservative sectors in Arendelle's politics.

A stain that Elsa intended to change starting the next morning.

* * *

"Well, we have arrived at the Hunter's Guild, sirs, miss", the charioteer announced after pulling the reins to stop the horses pulling the carriage.

Inside the vehicle were Jason and Elise on one side, hand in hand. On the other side was Adéwalé, watching the interactions between the couple with a smile.

As the carriage stopped in front of the entrance to the Guild, the ex-slave stood up, opening the door to descend. "Well, I think it's bedtime, the day promises to be long tomorrow", said the leader of the hunters, but when he saw Jason making a move to get out of the carriage, Adéwalé raised his hand. "My boy, your cousin is leaving tomorrow, and after that, only the gods know when you will see each other again, so…", he left the phrase in the air, with a mischievous smile.

"Adé, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Jason asked, raising an expectant eyebrow.

"Jason, I have two orders for you before I leave: the first is that you and Elise enjoy whatever time you have before she returns home; and the second... is that you have to be here in the Guild nine months from now, do you hear me?", asked the hunter, trying to suppress a laugh as the two lovers blushed intensely, acquiring shades of red that he didn't even think even existed.

"Er... I... is that... er... um..." Jason stammered, blushing furiously.

"Have fun, but don't have _too much fun_ , if you understand me!" replied Adéwalé, clearly amused by the situation as he closed the carriage's door. The hunter beckoned to the driver, who nodded and shook the reins, causing the horses to run again.

Jason was completely red with embarrassment; he knew that his master had a humorous vein, but did he have to say that, even more so, in front of Elise, of all people?

"I'm going to kill him for this", said the younger hunter, trying to keep his voice steady. "What the hell, why did he have to say that?"

"You know... he, in a way, said what was going on in my head", murmured the Duchess of Soleanna, still very red and with a sudden interest in the floor of the carriage. Jason's eyes widened for two seconds before he grinned.

"If so", he began, taking Elise's face softly into his hands and leaning toward her. "Then, shall we fulfill my master's command?"

"It's about time", agreed the duchess, before closing the remaining distance to her cousin, kissing him softly - at least, at first. In no time however, Jason began to lick his cousin's lips with his tongue, asking for permission to enter. When he felt the tip of her tongue searching for his tongue, the kiss began to gain more and more intensity as their hands began to explore.

He felt the softness of the chocolate-colored dress she wore, as well as the softness of her skin, which was shivering not from the cold - but from the overwhelming sensations that ran through her veins.

She felt the slight tremor in his back, and knew that the anxiety was starting to get better on him - their first time, he had shaken so much that she had to whisper words of comfort for ten minutes to calm him down.

He let out a moan as he felt her hand press a sensitive spot on his ribs - the same one where his shiver originated in extreme situations; Jason was sure that, unless they got to Elise's ship quickly, he wouldn't be able to control himself.

To his luck, however, the carriage began to slow down at that very moment, as it entered the port. A few minutes later, the charioteer reined in the horses a few yards from a boarding ramp for a huge ship.

The man began to rise from his seat to open the door, but when he heard a series of half-muffled noises coming from inside the carriage, he decided not to do so. Instead, he hit the wood of the vehicle hard enough to catch the attention of its occupants. "My lord, my lady, we have arrived", the driver announced.

"Thank you", murmured the duchess's hoarse voice, which caused the driver to roll his eyes. This scene was far more common than he'd expected when he'd started doing this job many years ago.

Inside the carriage, Jason and Elise stopped their kiss - reluctantly. Both of them were breathing heavily, their eyes clouded with love and desire, and their skin was starting to get slightly sweaty beneath their gala clothes.

"Let's go?" the redhead asked, more firmly than she was feeling. Jason nodded, not daring to trust his own voice. "It's so good to have you back", she murmured in a sensual voice as she adjusted her gown before getting out of the carriage.

The journey from the carriage to the boarding ramp was done in silence. The only sound to be heard was the clanking of swords against their sheaths as the Soleanna Royal Guards shifted into position.

As they reached the deck of the Solaris, a man in a uniform similar to the soldiers on the land approached them with authority. "Welcome back my lady.", said the man in fluent Italian.

"Captain Pietro, have the sailors ready to leave at my command. And... I don't want anyone to disturb us, understand?"

As Jason removed his wig, releasing his blue hair, the officer recognized him immediately, even after more than four years. "Lord Smith!" exclaimed the captain, his eyes widening.

"Hello, Pietro, it's been awhile, eh?" asked the hunter, with a clumsy smile.

"Indeed", he murmured, before resuming his professional stance. "My lady, my lord, no one will disturb you. I swear on my personal honor."

Elise smiled and nodded gratefully before taking Jason's hand and pulling him to her personal quarters at the stern of the Solaris.

The place was richly decorated, with pictures of the Duchess' family, bookshelves, a mannequin with the traditional white dress she liked to wear, a sizeable wardrobe, a meeting table with a model of the Solaris at the center and, further down, a queen-size bed (which had been installed when the owner of the ship was Elise's father, the Duke of Soleanna).

"I like the cabin", said Jason, before turning to Elise who had her back to him, removing the necklace she had worn during the party. Unable to contain himself, he moved to his cousin and hugged her from behind, putting his arms around her waist with as much delicacy as possible. "But, I still prefer it's owner," he murmured.

"Good to know", Elise whispered, turning her neck to kiss her cousin. Then, she turned the rest of her body to be more comfortable, deepening the kiss as she began to guide Jason to the bed. It was hard to pay attention on last few meters before they reached the bed, since they were too focused on the increasingly hot and wet kisses they were exchanging, as their hands continued to desperately explore every inch of each other's body, before the morning came.

They wanted to enjoy the most of the few hours left before the ship sailed for Soleanna.

As she pushed him over the feather mattress, she still had time to say one last thing before she lay down beside him, causing them both to forget the world around them - with the exception of themselves. "Have patience with me please. It's been four years since we've made love."

"For you, honey, I have all the patience in the world."

* * *

 _Author's Note: So... the coronation is over. And the hell is awaiting to break loose! Now that we met all the main actors in this story, the plot that connects everybody is ready to begin; and the Chaos Emeralds will have a major role in this scheme._

 _And Elsa is right when she told herself that Eggman's kindness is a pure facade; and one more thing - Merida and Eugene will have important roles in this story, since both of them have information that can reveal what the Egghead is planning._

 _Thanks to all the readers who left reviews for Chapter 8, your words are the fuel that keeps me writing - every word, be it praise, criticism or a suggestion, is more than welcome and necessary. Thanks to walard and Striga for their good work - I'd say that part of this fic is theirs. And thanks to my brothers AceVermin143 and SeniorCrescent for supporting me._

 _See you next chapter!_


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